Having come back to actively working on OCI*ML recently, it’s time I cracked on with some more features (I have been promising LOBs for a long time, sorry to anyone who’s still waiting). Just to get warmed up, inspired by spark I have added a quick histogram function, similar to quick query for interactive use. This requires a query of the form of a label and a number, for example a simple view:

SQL> create view v1 as
select object_type, count(1) as howmany from user_objects group by object_type;

The histogram automatically scales to the width of the current window.

Also, I have been reading Jordan Mechner’s book The Making Of Prince Of Persia†. It’s both fascinating and inspiring. Just before that, I read The Future Was Here, the story of the Commodore Amiga‡. The book is made even more poignant by my Mac inexplicably showing the beach ball as I scroll through a simple web page, or the mighty RHEL servers at work being unable to keep up with my typing. The future is still back in the 80s.

† The original code is also on Github.

‡ I have an A500+ on my desk right now, the best of them IMHO. I might write a post comparing it with the Atari STE, and the BBC with the C64, in the cold light of day as an experienced adult. I have a fine collection of classic machines now, often acquired broken with the intention of repairing them myself. Another time-sink from OCaml work…