Data Outlives the Code That Created It

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

A failed queue record kept returning. Its payload named a mail class the running application could not resolve correctly, so retrying it could only repeat the same failure.

The retained workaround was blunt: once a minute, delete failed records whose payload matched that job. It stopped an unusable delivery attempt from disturbing the queue. It did not make the payload readable.

That small incident exposes an awkward storage contract. Serializing an executable object does not merely store its arguments. It preserves facts about the code which created it: class name, namespace, property layout, and sometimes framework behavior. The payload can live much longer than those facts.

Data-Design on Brian Faust

Data Outlives the Code That Created It