[wp-hackers] Making WordPress database independent

[Scott Kingsley Clark]

Some discussion has been made on the WordPress Core Trac regarding
supporting other database types, though it appears that the direction
that WordPress core has taken is against supporting other database
types comes at the cost of increasing the amount of effort in either
rewriting functions and / or RegEx-ing your way through the barriers
that the MySQL only support WordPress currently restricts itself to.
Yes, many developers have gone through this and built solutions of
many different types, but it doesn't compare to what real integration
could bring, or additional provisions within Core for these efforts.

Any attempt to abstract WordPress beyond MySQL will only waste core
dev time as they have to then explain why they won't be making any
changes. I apologize for my own time wasting on that end - I believe
some sort of page in the Codex or About section of the WP.org should
compile the full explanation of the reasoning behind the MySQL-only
support WP core has restricted itself to with some sort of evidence in
favor of that restriction, offering up additional resources to plugins
which were developed to support other engines that have been
recommended by core devs or other respectable devs / firms in the WP
community.

There's much to be done, calling WP a full blown CMS right now is
tough, since many people's idea of 'full' can be different. In this
database discussion, a great question rises yet again as it has over
the past many years of WP's life.

Will there be some form of redemption by core as more community
members speak out in favor of additional support? No one can tell, at
least not for the very near future. We'll see how the  WordPress
landscape changes over the next few years. For now, your only hope is
to prove them wrong -- that people want to use these other database
engines -- with solid proof of why it would be a good addition to core
and the impact it could have in making WordPress better for more
people than just MySQL alone. Think of your task as being a prosecutor
in a court case, WordPress is the defendant, and you've got to
persuade the jury (Core Devs and major contributors) to see the future
and what they're doing by limiting growth.

That's my two dollars anyways.. I've been from the bottom to top of
the Core Dev ladder, the answer is the same all around -- They simply
don't have this as a priority or even in sights for the next few years
and for it to happen we will need to orchestrate this as a community
effort to prove to them that it is a priority. I know right now, it
seems like we're protesting about the war in Vietnam (US History), but
we can only make a difference if it's truly what the community wants
and is the 'right' choice to expand the use of WordPress and it's
ability to perform to meet the needs of everyone who it can benefit.

Good luck until then, just say "I think I can", sorry for the video -
I had to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoVRV_xGEqc

-Scott


On Feb 7, 11:23 am, Piyush Mishra <m... at piyushmishra.com> wrote:
> May be using DAOs will help. we can push all functionality to the DAO of the
> respective db layer and simple inbuilt functions from the specific vendor
> can be used where needed and in other databases, the same features can be
> implemented at the code level??
> Just an idea yet. but it seems good to me.
> 1 factory, 1 PDO or similar base class and few interfaces and their mysql
> implementation will get us to where we currently stand with MySQL, we might
> not actually need whole ORMs etc
>
> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 10:33 PM, Brian Layman <wp-hack... at thecodecave.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 2/7/2011 11:49 AM, Piyush Mishra wrote:
>
> >> With NoSQL picking up craze, postgre gaining popularity and WordPress
> >> moving
> >> towards being a complete CMS, its a move that we should make.
> >> Propel might be a good option, may be DAOs.
> >> But this option is good for progress of the CMS as a whole.
> >> I bet people will start discovering new areas for improvement within the
> >> core as they implement database abstraction.
>
> > Will they?  Admittedly anything that causes people to look at code again
> > can do that, but would it introduce any major improvements? Remember - every
> > feature that isn't supported in MySQL and all our "supported" database
> > engines would be excluded from use..  Heck, we can't even generically use
> > features that require MySQL 5.0 yet (assuming 3.1 hasn't dropped before I
> > hit send).
>
> > I'm really curious to see how having access to stored procedures, triggers,
> > views will affect the WordPress Core.  I wonder where that rabbit trail will
> > lead us.
>
> > --
> > Brian Layman
> >http://eHermitsInc.com
> > Managed WordPress Hosting
>
> > _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Regards
> Piyush Mishrahttp://www.piyushmishra.com/
> Life's Short, Live it to the maximum
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