October 2015 Summaries

IoT use cases are being explored across various industries to tap into new sources of revenue and maximize operational efficiency. Industrial automation, utilities, retail, healthcare, transportation and logistics, and automotive sectors are among those that stand to benefit from IoT solutions. By identifying what top priorities are in a specific case through asking questions such as whether there are 'things' within the organization that would benefit from greater connectivity or if better use can be made of existing network-ready devices, organizations can determine if an IoT solution is needed and take steps to get started.

SQL has proven its ability to scale and meet today's needs, as seen in the success of SingleStore, a distributed SQL database that has gained popularity despite being overshadowed by NoSQL alternatives. The resurgence of SQL is driven by companies looking for scalable and flexible solutions, such as Teespring, which chose SingleStore for its ANSI SQL support and dynamic querying capabilities. As the market shifts, we are seeing the emergence of new trends, including the addition of SQL layers on top of Hadoop platforms and the incorporation of SQL into NoSQL databases, but experts like Gartner predict that these solutions will eventually become less relevant as multiple data models become integrated into a single platform. SingleStore's multi-model approach has been validated by its success and is seen as a key factor in its growth, with the company remaining confident in the future of SQL and continuing to champion it as the lingua franca of the database world.

In an interview with Software Engineering Daily, Nikita Shamgunov, CTO and co-founder of SingleStore, discussed the ideal use cases for in-memory databases compared to disk-based stores. An in-memory database is a database management system that relies on main memory (RAM) for data storage, providing ultra-fast access to data. With its 'memory first' approach, SingleStore combines horizontal scalability with SQL familiarity. It offers advantages such as immediate data availability, fast data loading and indexing, and the ability to handle mixed transaction/analytical workloads. Nikita Shamgunov emphasizes that in-memory databases are ideal for real-time applications requiring ultra-fast access to data, potentially saving time and money in the long run.

The text discusses the importance of architecting quality like a feature in enterprise software, similar to how SingleStore builds test systems to ship new releases frequently. The company has developed an infinitely scalable test system called Psyduck, which runs over 100,000 tests daily and is powered by a powerful architecture that scales as they grow. To maximize product quality and build an efficient developer workflow, the team emphasizes making testing easy, asynchronous, scalable, optimal for latency, debugging failed tests easily, gathering analytics, and making testing pervasive throughout the development process. By adopting these strategies, any engineering team can create their own infinitely scalable test system to improve software quality and productivity.