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0 pointsstrken1mo ago0 comments

I see a world where developers need to think about REASONABLE scale from day one, with all caps and no parentheses.

I've sat in on meetings about adding auth rate limiting, using Redis, to an on-premise electron client/Node.js server where the largest installation had 20 concurrent users and the largest foreseeable installation had a few thousand, in which every existing installation had an average server CPU utilisation of less than a percent.

Redis should not even be a possibility under those circumstances. It's a ridiculous suggestion based purely on rote whiteboard interview cramming. Stick a token_bucket table in Postgres.

I'm also not convinced that thinking about reasonable scale would lead to a different implementation for most other greenfield projects. The nice thing about shoving everything into Postgres is that you nearly always have a clear upgrade path, whereas using Redis right from the start might actually make the system less future-proof by complicating any eventual migration.

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saisrirampur1mo ago

Ack, agreed. But there’s a better way to communicate than making blanket statements like “just use Postgres.” For example, you could say “Postgres is the default database,” etc.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a huge huge fan of Postgres. I’ve worked at Postgres companies for a decade, started a Postgres company, and now lead a Postgres service within a company! But I prefer being real rather than doing marketing hype and blanket love.

Izkata1mo ago

"Just" doesn't solely mean "only", this phrase is using it in the spirit of "just do it" - meaning "stop dawdling around".

"Just use postgres" is the snappy phrase you're looking for.

saisrirampur1mo ago

Ack, makes sense. When making public posts that reach a large audience, it’s better to be clear with the messaging rather than risk it being blurry for even a subset of the audience, especially if that could lead to misguidance and affect their day-to-day work.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsstrken1mo ago0 comments

I see a world where developers need to think about REASONABLE scale from day one, with all caps and no parentheses.

Redis should not even be a possibility under those circumstances. It's a ridiculous suggestion based purely on rote whiteboard interview cramming. Stick a token_bucket table in Postgres.

0 comments

saisrirampur1mo ago

Ack, agreed. But there’s a better way to communicate than making blanket statements like “just use Postgres.” For example, you could say “Postgres is the default database,” etc.

Izkata1mo ago

"Just" doesn't solely mean "only", this phrase is using it in the spirit of "just do it" - meaning "stop dawdling around".

"Just use postgres" is the snappy phrase you're looking for.

saisrirampur1mo ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse