[PD] [psql] object hand-holding

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On Dec 11, 2007, at 3:45 PM, Hans-Christoph Steiner wrote:

>
> On Dec 11, 2007, at 8:29 AM, Frank Barknecht wrote:
>
>> Hallo,
>> Jamie Bullock hat gesagt: // Jamie Bullock wrote:
>>
>>> Actually, please don't be quiet! When this was discussed some  
>>> time ago,
>>> you mentioned Python as a solution, and my feeling was that if I  
>>> write a
>>> piece and it uses some database connectivity, I don't really want to
>>> have to distribute a Python runtime, relevant Python SQL module,  
>>> [py]
>>> and all the respective dependencies with it. I just (at most)  
>>> want to
>>> include an external, and the databse library it uses. If I write a
>>> piece, I can't reasonably expect a performer to resolve all of this
>>> themselves - it needs to "just work". I also want to minimise as  
>>> much as
>>> possible the number of discrete components in the system that could
>>> possibly go wrong.
>>
>> That's quite sensible. As soon as a DB interface is involved, one
>> already has entered dependency hell, so minimizig further  
>> dependencies
>> may be a valid goal. However a dependency on flext is just a
>> dependency at compile time, so it's not really an additional
>> dependency at runtime. A dependency on Python is kind of a dependency
>> at runtime, as you need a possibly large Python installation. A
>> dependency on Lua is also a runtime dependency, however as Lua is
>> small, including it with the binaries will make the runtime  
>> dependency
>> not matter.
>>
>> An immediate advantage of both Python and Lua is, that once the  
>> system
>> is set up (easy with Lua, a bit tricky with pyext), the actual object
>> code is just a textfile with a script. Especially as so far it's not
>> even clear, how the SQL class in Pd should behave, this would allow
>> rapid turnaround cycles in development. (For example I posted a
>> working SQL object in Lua some weeks ago, and in Pyext some months
>> ago, that took me about 20 minutes to write, including help-patch. In
>> the case of Lua, I had never written SQL code in that language  
>> before.
>> I wasn't so fast because I would be a genius programmer, but because
>> the language is easier and no compilation is involved.)
>>
>> For a general purpose DB interface I would generally still prefer
>> Python because threading is possible, but if ease of installation  
>> is a
>> higher goal, Lua IMO even beats C-externals.
>
> Things are easy to compile only if your machine is setup for  
> compiling.  Pd patches and  binaries shipped as part of Pd are by  
> far the easiest to use.  Getting distribution working in a non- 
> trivial task, so unless lua and/or python are built as part of Pd- 
> extended, I would not consider it easy.
>
> Other than that, Python, PHP, Perl, Lua, etc all have native  
> interfaces to databases (some likely written in C), I think Pd  
> should also have a native interface for databases.  Pd is written  
> in C, we have working C code, Pd externals written in C have a  
> proven track record of ease of use, so it makes sense to write this  
> interface in C as well.

I just wanted to add, I am not anti-python or lua or whatever.  It's  
just a practical matter.  Pd is written in C, therefore it's going to  
be much easier to manage Pd code written in C.  C is a pain, that's  
true, but that's what we got.  Perhaps someone could write another pd  
in Lua! :D

.hc


>
> That said, I think we have a solid interface sketched out, I think  
> it's time to write some code and try it out.  I've started porting  
> the mysql external from Max to Pd.  Let me know if you guys want  
> specific help with psql and sqlite.  Ultimately, I think these all  
> should be part of a 'sql' library, and then we can also add the  
> query building objects too.
>
> .hc
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ------
>
> As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others, we should  
> be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;  
> and this we should do freely and generously.         - Benjamin  
> Franklin
>
>



>





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