I'm Speaking on SQL at OSCON

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Practical Object-Oriented Models in SQL

Wednesday July 22, 5:20pm.

SQL is from Mars, Objects are from Venus.

This talk is for software developers who know SQL but are stuck trying to implement common object-oriented structures in an SQL database. Mimicking polymorphism, extensibility, and hierarchical data in the relational database paradigm can be confusing and awkward, but they don't have to be.

• Polymorphism: Suppose your blog supports comments, but then your comments need to reference multiple types of content, for example news, blog articles, and videos. What then?
• Extensibility: We’ve all designed customizable software, allowing customers to extend a data model with new data attributes. See how to design flexible systems, while using efficient SQL queries.
• Hierarchies: Tree-structured data relationships are common, but working with trees in SQL usually implies recursive queries. There are a few solutions to solve this more cleanly.
• ActiveRecord Dos and Don'ts: Web development frameworks have popularized the use of design patterns, but when it comes to multi-table queries, complex views, and assignment of OO responsibilities, ActiveRecord falls short as a one-size-fits-all Domain Model.
  

BoF: Meet Authors from Pragmatic Bookshelf

Wednesday July 22, 7:00pm

Gather with published and upcoming authors of programming books from the industry favorite publisher, Pragmatic Bookshelf. Join this informal chat about programming, writing books, job hunting, and career development.

Agenda:

• Author introductions, books, OSCON presentations.
• Experiences working with a publisher.
• How does authoring a book aid a tech career?
• What tech books would you like to see?

Pragmatic Bookshelf authors attending OSCON include:

• Ian Dees is presenting “Testing iPhone Apps with Ruby and Cucumber” at OSCON (Wednesday 10:45am). Ian authored the book “Scripted GUI Testing with Ruby.”
• Bill Karwin is presenting “Practical Object-Oriented Models in SQL” at OSCON (Wednesday 5:20pm). Bill is currently writing a book “SQL Antipatterns.”
• Other Prag authors are attending OSCON, and plan to be at this BoF.