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From: Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Article on new mainframe use
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2024 07:13:53 -0000 (UTC)
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On Fri, 23 Aug 2024 02:31:46 -0500, BGB wrote:

> On 8/22/2024 9:36 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:59:34 -0500, BGB wrote:
>> 
>>> Underused: It is a sensible way of structuring data, but needing to
>>> interface with it though SQL strings is awkward and inefficient.
>> 
>> Actually, that works fine in any language with decent string handling.
>> 
> String processing adds bulk and inefficiency.
> Granted, maybe not enough to matter in the face of a typical database
> query.

Remember what Knuth (or maybe it was Hoare) said: “Premature optimization 
is the root of all evil”. String processing has to be in the language for 
other reasons (think: composing messages and processing input when 
interacting with a human user), why not use it for this?

Also, it is quite common now to use text-based protocols for networks 
(e.g. messages in JSON format). That may sound inefficient, but it eases 
debugging so much, that has become a major consideration.

> But, I was left thinking, some programs use SQLite, which exists as a
> single giant C file. I guess it technically works, but has the downside
> of adding something like IIRC around 900K or so to the size of the
> binaries' ".text" section.

SQLite is so resource-light, it’s the world’s most popular DBMS. You 
almost certainly have a copy literally at your fingertips right now, in 
your mobile phone.