The modern, SQL-driven relational databases arrived in the 80’s, before the Web had taken off. When developers started to build web-based applications, these databases were a natural choice for storing persistent data. Object-oriented databases (OODBs) were available, but they were not widely accepted due to performance and scalability issues. Here is the crucial point: relational databases were not chosen because they were a great fit for Web apps, they were chosen because that was the only realistic option available at the time.

With the arrival of Java and other object-oriented languages, the shortcomings of relational databases became more obvious. Developers now had to map their classes to tables in the database. Object-relational mappers like Hibernate made this process less painful, but it remained an awkward solution compared to using a real OODB. Read More

After a short hiatus from the series, I am proud to say we are back with another new business model. This week we are going to take a look at the data mining business model. Using this model means that revenue is generated as a result of data mining through the usage of a product. Nearly every business can use data mining as a way to increase revenue, but there is a growing trend to use data mining as a principle revenue stream. However, this approach does not come without its pitfalls.

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For the series this week, we are going to take a look at a version business model. The main principle behind this model is providing different versions of the same software. The idea of creating multiple products out of a single application has been the most popularly adopted model for over a decade. Now, just like any business model there are some serious pitfalls and benefits of this approach. Luckily with many real world examples we can create a very accurate idea of this model.

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This was not an easy lesson to learn. Our site is less than a few weeks old and I had figured that it would not receive any large traffic for a few months. I was wrong. As some of you noticed our site hit the viral level with our article about web terms. The amount of traffic that was sent our way crippled our server and taught me the importance of caching mechanisms.

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It seems that everyone has their own idea of what Web 2.0 means.That is one of the pitfalls to using a single buzzword to define everything you see on the internet. I have heard people describing nearly every new website as being Web 2.0 as if it was describing the launch date of a site. The term ironically is the most popular category on Resourceful Idiot. In leu of this, I am going to finally give you the definition of Web 2.0 and the principles that define it. In order to do that however, I need to start from the beginning with Web 1.0.

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To kick off this series, I figured a good place to start is with the acquisition business model. This has become one of the more popular business models for web services. The reason this works is because there are big companies (ie. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, etc) that are acquiring startups at an alarming rate. Like any business model, basing your company on the sole idea of being acquired is risky. If done right however, it can be a very lucrative approach to a startup business.

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There is an announcement about Twitter potentially moving away from the Ruby on Rails framework and looking for alternatives. In the article it suggests that Twitter is looking to migrate toward a Ruby only architecture. All this is no shock to anyone who has attempted designing a Rails-based application as a flagship product.

Every startup is focused on the same thing and that is getting a product out the door at a minimum amount of cost. The easiest way to ensure low cost is to cut down on physical development time. What I mean by physical development time is the actual time it takes to go from paper to final product. This is where Ruby on Rails has found its niche. Rails has been hailed as being the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to rapid development. I am not going to debate this fact because this is exactly why I use the framework myself. The highly debated topic I am here to weigh in on is the points of scalability and performance. These are exactly the same two points employees at Twitter have very publicly commented on.

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With the announcement of Facebook picking up another Google employee, one has to begin to ask the question if Facebook is selecting these candidates just based on admiration for the company. I am sure that all those hired from Google are qualified for the positions they received with Facebook, but the latest announcement is that Facebook has nearly 20 Google employees. From a team building standpoint this sends up a big red flag. The goal on building any business team is diversity. The diversity of a team ensures that no decisions will go unchallenged and thus unrefined. There have been countless occurrences of companies picking up too many similar personalities, losing focus on their audience, and then eventually losing market share.

Now, picking up employees from Google is not a bad idea don’t get me wrong, however there has to be some sort of limit. If I was to pick up 20 Yahoo employees to run my site they would have a tendency to direct the site in a similar direction as Yahoo. Each company has the tendency to hire similar personality types. It takes a good leader to know when there are too many similar employees already and to bring in a fresh perspective. After seeing Facebook’s hiring approach, I cannot help but question whether they have considered this basic team building principle. Not to mention the high cost that Facebook is paying to pick up these ex-Google employees. Is it wise or is it simply Facebook’s desire to be Google?

I stumbled onto a post showing pictures of different internet startups. The startups all have different office themes from collaborative spaces to more traditional offices. It just shows that your work environment isn’t as important as some developers lead you to believe. Some of today’s most social sites don’t have the Google approach and are doing better than those who are. As a developer it is more important to look at your team rather than the environment your working in. Tailor your environment around the team and modify it until everyone is comfortable. This also applies to entering an existing company. Go with the people, not the environment or you may end up with a real sweet office but people you absolutely despise.

Any developer strives to become a reputable and respected member of the development community. Exactly how you go about earning this title is shrouded in mystery. After asking a handful of the prominent Ruby community developers, I realized that even the developers who have earned this title do not know how they did it. Many suggest that posting on forums and sitting in community IRC channels will do the trick. For those who have tried this strategy, including myself, it will provide nothing but countless hours wasted. After some analysis, I have come up with a more effective strategy when it comes to building your developer network and earning a title among your peers.

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