The Vietnam of Computer Science
Ted Neward has written a thought-provoking article on the Object-Relational mapping problem.
No armed conflict in US history haunts the American military more than Vietnam. So many divergent elements coalesced to create the most decisive turning point in modern American history that it defies any layman’s attempt to tease them apart. And yet, the story of Vietnam is fundamentally a simple one: The United States began a military project with simple yet unclear and conflicting goals, and quickly became enmeshed in a quagmire that not only brought down two governments (one legally, one through force of arms), but also deeply scarred American military doctrine for the next four decades (at least).
Although it may seem trite to say it, Object/Relational Mapping is the Vietnam of Computer Science. It represents a quagmire which starts well, gets more complicated as time passes, and before long entraps its users in a commitment that has no clear demarcation point, no clear win conditions, and no clear exit strategy.
- Link (via Coding Horror)
- A followup article has been posted here.
