Timeline for Modeling first and lastname separately
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:18 | comment | added | Becuzz | @icirellik Exactly. As you said "It depends on the application". | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:14 | comment | added | icirellik | That all depends on perspective and usage. From the perspective of a user that is willing to give you money, they will likely move on. From the perspective of the company, they were never worth the investment. As for usages, it depends on the application. An application to guarantee health care to all Americans cannot be pragmatic, it must work. A social webapp that tracks your calories has more leniency and the cost of correctness likely outweighs the benefits. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:02 | comment | added | Becuzz | @icirellik (...cont) There comes a point at which practicality beats out correctness. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:01 | comment | added | Becuzz | @icirellik (...cont) Sometimes you just have to make a choice as to what you are willing to miss out on. I seriously doubt there is any system on this earth that can properly handle every naming convention. There will always be something that doesn't work. See my favorite list about name assumptions. Something, somewhere just won't jive with what you want to do. And unless you are building an application for storing and using every name ever, it probably isn't critical to cover every possibility. (cont...) | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:01 | comment | added | Becuzz | @icirellik Wrong in what way? Are those things (length limits, etc.) wrong if you are trying to perfectly model the universe? Certainly. But I have never been asked to perfectly model the universe and every possible way someone could want to pick a name. Do I account for Klingon names? No. But why not? Someone might do that someday (honestly wouldn't surprise me if someone did that now). But there comes a point at which you just know there will be some things that just won't work with your model. And the extra dev time to handle every possibility just isn't worth it. (cont...) | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 14:29 | comment | added | icirellik | "What are the requirements of your system?" is the type of response that causes issues for many people when logging into a site. Having a limit on length is always going to be wrong? Excluding characters will also be wrong? There are thousands of reasons the requirements will be wrong. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 14:13 | comment | added | BobDalgleish | If all your name requirements are dictated by management, and you never have to work with legacy applications, vendor applications, or newer systems or technologies, then, of course, you can limit your design. Since you never have anyone in your country that sues because you cannot spell their name correctly, it must make your life a lot easier. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 11:47 | comment | added | AnoE | @BobDalgleish, but there absolutely is "one culture" in some highly relevant areas where software is developed. For example, one of my larger customers has hundreds, if not thousands of legacy applications, everyone of which assumes persons to have names stored in two fields. Sure, I can tell them that my application only uses one field and denies hacking them apart, but then I can also just look for a new job... | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 10:37 | comment | added | Davor Ždralo | @BobDalgleish - "culture" is irrelevant. No one asks about your culture when you are issued documents. If I needed to support only Serbia (where I'm at the moment) I would include first and last name as those are defined on every document issued in this country, and that's it. It doesn't matter what your culture is. Your passport, drivers licence etc will have first and last name, period. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 20:16 | comment | added | Casey | @BobDalgleish Presumably whichever culture is dominant in the market for which the application is being developed? I don't think this is actually that mysterious or rare. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 20:01 | comment | added | Becuzz | @BobDalgleish It is up to us to know that it isn't a trivial problem. And it is our job to make sure the business people know that. But if they choose to ignore it entirely or are more concerned about other things (like time to market, etc) and would rather come back to it later, that is up to them. If we can give them good alternatives, we can minimize the pain. But unless we are the ones making the final call on the requirements and how many people we are going to inconvenience / confuse, we are going to have to defer to those who have that responsibility. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 19:52 | comment | added | BobDalgleish | So, if you only pick one culture, which one would it be? The business people will have to decide how many people they want to offend. It is, ultimately, up to the programmer to know that it is not a trivial problem, and that it requires real decisions with real consequences. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 15:30 | comment | added | Becuzz | @BobDalgleish True, but sometimes it doesn't matter. Sometimes the cost of supporting multiple cultures makes the business people just say no. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 15:22 | comment | added | BobDalgleish | There is no such thing as "one culture" any more. Even the smallest communities have mixed cultural norms and languages. | |
| Aug 1, 2017 at 13:45 | history | answered | Becuzz | CC BY-SA 3.0 |