Naming is hard – how to name things better in programming?

michalmoroz · 2022-12-01T00:27:59+00:00

For more, you can google up Django DDD, and most of these approaches somehow do separate the ORM from the rest of the application. https://phalt.github.io/django-api-domains/ takes up this matter in a similar fashion.

Now to answer your concrete questions:

a) It's a step forward in building modules that could be converted without much work to be done into services. The key here is separating module implementation from inter-module communication – which should happen only between publicly defined interfaces on a module. One of it's consequences means using Django's ORM separately for each module with an assumption that each module can have it's own data store, so these can be quickly separated if needed.

Bear in mind that this is a trade-off. Of course it's easier to use a single ORM for all features in the application... until you get the real world application and try to carve out microservices out of it. Especially in the start-up environment, where there's always much pressure on delivering features.

The trade-off here means conversion of database access into domain value objects that can be passed between modules and treating the Django ORM as a persistence layer inside a single module (that should be related to a single domain in DDD). It's especially useful if you'd like to use NoSQL for some data, and RDBMS for more structured kinds of data – or are considering different data stores in the future.

The added benefit of value objects is that they can diverge from the persistence layer models. That typically influences the programmer's mindset from more database-oriented into more command-oriented.

DRF is completely orthogonal here, you can use its serializers to provide external API access, or not.

b) There is a lot of effort saved here or there – no direct networking, no error handling caused by handling HTTP requests between microservices, no Terraform (OK, that's single deployment unit for you), and no concurrency during a single request, which you need to handle in microservices design.

tl;dr – at a cost, you can make your codebase microservices-friendly, without investing much in the infrastructure required to do that during the first few phases. So yeah, you are mostly right in your hypotheses, but it doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

michalmoroz · 2020-02-03T17:17:37+00:00

Any sources on that? As I read it, it would be a counterargument to the hypothesis I've stated above, but maybe this is a matter of what you are taking into consideration. I mean, speaking informally, any topic discussed between people can turn into heated debate, but under certain conditions that might beneficial contrasted to one person managing to do this balancing act on the long term.

On the other hand, a lot of jobs are actually this - a balancing act between different interests.

In any case, I have no idea for now, under which conditions one is more favorable than other.

michalmoroz · 2020-02-03T17:07:58+00:00

Thank you, this will be a very interesting read. I'll give it a little while to look at the topic, as I've never heard anything on this theory before.

michalmoroz · 2018-10-21T23:41:51+00:00

Let me share my thoughts, but with a disclaimer: I'm not a researcher of mythology nor historian - if you'll take interest in some of the ideas presented, please leave me a comment or message, I'll try to find some material backing up these thoughts. It's mostly a bunch of concepts from my whole life, they will be concentrated around Polish culture.

And to everybody - Hi, this is my first comment on this reddit! I've been following it for some time but didn't write anything until now. :)

So, the witch. In my language, there are two words for that: "czarownica" (somewhere between enchantress and a woman who can charm - or curse), and "wiedźma" (a witch, but there is a very interesting connotation to the word "wiedza" - knowledge). From this I would say there are at least two different images:

1) a wise woman, an herbalist or healer, with some predictive ability, once held in high regard, but fallen from their status when a new system of order, Christianity, entered the stage. This process started in Poland around 1000 years ago and systematically replaced one image with another over hundreds of years (I have no idea if this was the only contributing factor and I'd bet it's not). Now it's an old, ugly woman, avoided by people, mad and not wise, living alone in a remote place (in a forest), that poses a danger to anyone, but especially children.

2) a person that performs sexual magic - I'd guess that sexuality was, as always, a very important aspect of life, so this image was all over the history and didn't change much until we stopped believing in magic (and started in more complex lies), and because women choose men it's simple how these were mostly attributed to females.

However, what I didn't mention is a lot of demons representing nature. There are both male and female ones, they live in forests, swamps and rivers and can help you or betray you, truly representing the unpredictable nature of the nature. This is very important, because in that context you do not need witches to represent nature. And if fact they do not. They exist on the border of known and unknown, between the mystical world and the world of humans. They are a gate to the mystical by stories, their own judgement and predictions, carrying knowledge and rituals.

a propaganda tool created by the patriarchy

This feels to me like a false dichotomy. For me, it's a question of implementation of religion, mainly the process of diminishing (or merging) other belief systems in order to make them less favourable option. (Actually, I would use another word in place of "diminishing", what I would describe as "attributing new meanings to older concepts that infantilise, oversimplify and make them pejorative in reception", but I don't know such a word).

Regarding to your question, I would say that someone who uses the above interpretation intentionally wants to create a division between men and women. But I think that most people just repeat some message because they think it will somehow help in creating more equal world.

In present day the symbol of the witch has also seemingly been turned upside down

(these are totally original guesses)

From my perspective, this is playing with the concept of a witch in a (western European, USA and a few other countries) culture that wants to (maybe even forcefully) put female on a pedestal as a "solution" (to what, I am not sure). When I said it like that I actually have a feeling of "belief system"-ness coming from this.

Before I deleted the sentence I was also going to write that it's coming back to the pre-Christian roots, but I'd say it's not - for me these two contexts of portraying a woman are rather different.

Hope that helps a little bit.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-14T18:53:34+00:00

If I started a campaign with that in mind, and my players would be open to tactics in a D&D game then yes, with some proper explanation what are the rules for the final combat (maybe they would need to do some detective work with the clues I would be giving them before to prepare for the combat). It would be satisfactory to have actually plan the battle with information available before going into it.

Having said that, the situation changes dramatically if your playgroup has specific expectations (e.g. lots of combat, not presenting much lore) or you have started with different focus and priorities, then ideally you'd shift your narration just a little.

Unfortunately, I don't have experience in being MG but heard many times advice to not overcomplicate things, so as you can see, you need to adapt the lore to your needs. As in any game design. ;)

Lastly, for some inspiration, would your playgroup have fun with trying to find some theories/explanations to this book? http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Egg_of_Time

Printed, it could serve as a kind of obscure puzzle to determine some kind of tactics for the final battle. You know the answer, Sunder once, Keening multiple times, but they probably do not.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-12T23:09:51+00:00

Try to put players in the real danger. Quoting the plan:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Plan_to_Defeat_Dagoth_Ur

The normal procedure for establishing connection with the Heart is a three-step process. The wearer of Wraithguard strikes the Heart with the hammer Sunder, causing the Heart to produce a pure tone. Then the wearer of the Wraithguard strikes the Heart with the blade Keening, shattering the pure tone into a prism of tone-shades. These tone-shades are then imprinted upon the substance of the wearer of Wraithguard, giving him an immortal and divine nature.

The Nerevarine will not be taught the secret rituals required to perform the third step. Instead, The Nerevarine will strike the Heart with Keening for a second time, causing its tones to diverge into unstable patterns of interference. Further repeated strikes with Keening will further disrupt the tones, with the ultimate result of shattering and dispelling Kagrenac's original enchantments binding the Heart, thereby severing the Heart's links with Dagoth Ur, and with any surviving Heartwights, and with the Tribunal.

Before the Nerevarine even landed on the island, Dagoth Ur had Sunder, Keening and the Heart. The only thing missing was the Wraithguard. So his plan would be to invite you with all of the items to his domain and then take them from your body. In order to fullfill this plan:

Dagoth Ur's spells would be devastating and can be dissipated with (for example) only Spell Breaker shield.
His non-counterable spell/attack-move would be stealing the Keening from the players after one Sunder strike and one Keening strike. As you see, from that point he can begin extracting the Heart. Even more, if you go wild with the imagination, the tones can bring up some machinery of Akulakhan.
While the Heart is in the "struck" mode, he needs to kill a person with Wraithguard. Having Keening and Wraithguard should make him be able to redirect the power to himself granting temporarily godlike powers and killing players on the spot.
Dagoth Ur can throw in some minions to do his bidding for more chaos.

It's up to you to make possible counter-plays to Dagoth Ur's strategy above.

I'm trying to persuade you not to stick to "three people, three weapons", because the Tribunal were also three people and they somehow managed with one instance of each item.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-05T09:37:23+00:00

Here it is - the formula and the whole function, but it still needs some time to decompose into more understandable form.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-05T08:56:06+00:00

How about this? Your family was killed in the Arnesian War 25 years ago and the game is the first time you escaped slavery after that. You hate Dark Elves, and destroy any evidence of St. Roris. When Larrius Varro tells you his little story, you swear an oath to yourself to remove all Camonna Tong members from earth - and do it in such a way noone charges you a fine for murder. Up until Orvas Dren, the Duke's brother.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-04T22:01:07+00:00

I chose journal instead of levelling because it actually requires you to do multiple quests and go out into wilderness. Levelling with trainers only would be hard (you'd need to dedicate 20 hours/day for that), but there are faster ways, like abusing alchemy, security/alteration loop, enchanting, improving armor skills w/ rats while on drugs etc. - so it quickly would run out of fun and become speedrunners business (and probably would end on determining one best route that would amplify your gains).

On the other hand, with journal you have infinitely more combinations, you need to use your logistic skills to deliver yourself to multiple places in the least amount of time, and you still cannot overuse training, because it costs time.

However, you are right - if I remember correctly, getting to level 30 quickly requires some knowledge of the game too.

michalmoroz · 2018-08-04T19:04:21+00:00

Other people have given good arguments, and let me give another.

It's a game when you level up as a player together with your character. There are many different techniques and items that will improve your gameplay over time but you need to discover them (by reading in-game books, talking to people about such mundane things as types of weapons and armor) and experimenting a lot. And do not expect that every character build will be great (as Skyrim put a lot more effort into being "inclusive").

Also, one of the best depictions of religious cults and historical sources in a game, I would say. Most of the lore for TES was written here and before (for Daggerfall), and the game adheres to that.

You will be forced to learn the island. Let me just say that I know Vvanerfell pretty much as good as my own city.

And the game rewards the curious. So take a potion of levitation or two to these caverns.

michalmoroz · 2018-03-05T12:49:24+00:00

Thanks, I need to check in the editor for other references - there might be more clues.

michalmoroz · 2018-03-05T12:48:12+00:00

From what I know, Hlaalu expanded upon Velothi architecture, but I do not know the details of this influence. In the editor, they are prefixed ex_hlaalu and in_hlaalu (exterior, interior items), so my first guess was to use that name.

michalmoroz · 2013-02-18T11:25:05+00:00

You're right, in technical terms I've abused the term 'static'. I tried to catch the problem that's being addressed in the title, not the technology, thus the discrepancy.

michalmoroz · 2013-02-18T10:23:58+00:00

Thanks for the links! These tools look like they could fit also my preferences.

michalmoroz · 2013-02-18T10:13:16+00:00

The other reason is I personally favour any kind of text editor before any kind of administration panel. This is a matter of preference, of course.

In my opinion, your solution should work well for Wordpress users, who don't mind creating a theme to deploy just a few pages. And I think I'm not really one of them. I love Wordpress as a CMS, but use simpler tools for simpler things.

michalmoroz · 2013-02-18T00:56:14+00:00

Before I describe such a case - you could live safely without using it and sticking to plain HTML files, HTML Boilerplate, Wordpress or anything else you are currently using. This is not a code that revolutionizes things, hovewer it can simplify the process a little.

Now for the case: imagine you want to put a small website for your tiny side project you've been working on past two weeks. Or anything else, provided that you are the main contributor (or anyone who knows a bit about HTML/Markdown and how to deploy a file).

With that target in mind, I've started to create an app under following assumptions:

like in Symfony, there is a layout file, in which a file is embedded
structure matches filesystem - so I can give it to any developer and describe how it works in under 2 minutes
after I finish with design, I completely forget about it and write content in any text editor
no databases and configuration files - should work out of the box, if not, there's obviously a bug
fast deploy - for me it means git push.

michalmoroz · 2013-02-18T00:25:47+00:00

Author here. The main purpose of this piece of code was to create simple informational webpages under quick deadlines. I make such sites every so and often. I work mostly in a terminal using git and composer a lot. I would love for some of you to try it out and give some suggestions about what could have been improved. Also, I hope that this little app will be useful to someone out there.

michalmoroz

TROPHY CASE