Runester

Catalyst – The Elegant MVC Web Application Framework

Every so often, something happens and makes me feel old and dated. One such thing is discovering Catalyst for Perl … and finding out that ‘real’ web app developers have been using it for a while and (very rapidly) producing polished apps. I also, recently, discovered what a ‘design pattern’ is and why they’re so useful! For some reason, it’s easy to take what I know and collapse into a little walled garden where I try to apply it over and over to different problems. Meanwhile, the world moves on and builds new tools.

Did I say old? Actually, it’s more like a country villager going to the city and seeing an automobile for the first time. “What, they don’t rely on horses anymore? When did that happen?”

Another interesting case, was when I discussed owning my own house and running wires to each room and then bringing them back to a patch-panel (ala every Data Center I’ve ever worked in). I day dream about being able to send data, telephone, and cable to/from any room at will. Then John (a coworker) pointed out that he used to think that way until he started using 802.11g wireless in-home and saw absolutely no need to wire CAT-5e anywhere. I remember when wireless was 802.11b, wasn’t very fast, and didn’t pass through horse hair and plaster walls. Now it’s apparently multiples quicker and more reliable and makes the ‘home data center’ seem quaint.

In my own defense, I am trying to catch up. I’ve been reading like a madman and have already written some little apps using AJAX (with JSON instead of XML). I’m reading up on Catalyst and hope to have some test apps written using that within a few weeks. Maybe in a month or two I’ll even go and buy a book on design patterns – anything’s possible!

Now, to get rid of my polyester leisure suits and wide paisley ties …