MustModify Blog: All Posts for

MySQL vs PostgresQL: Pros and Cons for Default Database

July 05, 2020
I start up a lot of software with a database for small to mid-size apps that don't particularly have any requirements that would lend themselves to using one or the other SQL database. I just have to pick one. Here are some things I've discovered that inform my thinking about which one to choose. | | PostGresQL | MySQL | | --- | --- | ---...


Authentication Strategies

January 30, 2017
Just thinking about all the possible authentication strategies and tokens: Single Auth Token ----------------- As a user, I want to authenticate for a single request, no session or authentication persistence, for API purposes or downloads. I assume it was a thing before this, but I was introduced to it by AuthLogic, long may it...


Results-Only Interface with Quest via SOAP / HL7

February 20, 2014
Just as a note, SOAP is not only very painful to use, but it's a system that uses HTTP, but ignores all the value you get from HTTP. There are dramatically better options. Check out (http://www.designinghypermediaapis.com/) by Steve Klabnik. I acknowledge that there is some value is being able to validate messages. But it doesn't, IMO,...


Search w/ Dynamic Options via collection+json

February 11, 2014
We're searching for people using 'location', 'radius', and 'specialization' fields. Since collection+JSON apparently doesn't provide a mechanism for delivering options like the HTML tag ``, we've forked the Ruby gem for collection+JSON and added that feature: (https://github.com/mustmodify/collection-json.rb) Given I am an anonymous...


sending parameters with brackets [ ] via AngularJS

December 06, 2013
I want an AngularJS controller to POST to a Rails endpoint with parameters like { 'item': '32.50' } and have Rails see it as "item" => {"price": "32.50"}. This works perfectly well in normal HTML... it's not clear why it isn't working in Angular. Via HTTP ---------- It works in a normal HTML form: submitting this form, we...


Evolving thoughts about JSON APIs 2: a reason for collection+json

November 25, 2013
This is a follow-up to (http://mustmodify.com/2013/10/18/evolving-thoughts-about-apis) cJ is short for collection+JSON because lazy. Reasons for cJ --------------- Although I normally develop full-stack applications, I was contracted to implement a new API using a somewhat consistent pattern and was getting some positive feedback about...


installing rubinius + puma on EC2 with Amazon Linux

October 24, 2013
I have been struggling to get this to work, so I thought I would start fresh and write down the process in order to avoid making random decisions. Overview ---------- * install rubinius * install bundler * install MySQL * cap deploy:setup * cap deploy * puma . # see it work at all * get puma to run as a service Install...


Evolving thoughts about building APIs

October 18, 2013
Ever since I saw him speak about the subject at RubyConf 2011, I have been fascinated by Steve Klabnik's ideas about Hypermedia APIs. I have been keeping up with his evolving book on the subject, "Designing Hypermedia APIs":http://www.designinghypermediaapis.com/ and have enjoyed it. A new client is asking me to design an API. I started with...