Databases Memes

Databases: where your precious data goes to live until that one intern runs a query without a WHERE clause. These memes are for everyone who's felt the cold sweat of a production database migration or the special panic of seeing 'connection refused' on startup. The eternal SQL vs NoSQL debate rages on, while most of us are just trying to remember if it's JOIN table1 ON table2 or the other way around. We've all been there – writing queries that take so long to run you can make a coffee, take a nap, and still come back to 'executing.' If you've ever treated your database like a fragile house of cards, these memes will hit too close to home.

Stop Doing Operating Systems

Stop Doing Operating Systems
Content STOP DOING OS • CPUS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE SHARED! • YEARS OF SCHEDULERS yet NO REAL-WORLD USE FOUND for running more than one task at a time! • Wanted to terminate a process? We had a tool for that. It was called manual restart. • "Please give me 30 bytes of virtual memory. Please allocate it on the heap. ' - Statements dreamed up by evil wizards. LOOK at what kernel developers have been demanding your respect for all this time, with all the memory and CPUS we built for them. (This is REAL KERNEL CODE, done by REAL KERNEL DEVS): prev_state = READ_ONCE(prev->__state); if (sched mode == SM IDLE) { * This is how we return from a fork. * SCX must consult the BPF scheduler to if (Irq->nr_running 88 !scx_enabled()) { i SYM_CODE_START(ret_from_fork) next = prev; bl schedule_tail goto picked; cbz x19, 1f MOV x0, x20 } else if (! preempt 8& prev_state) { try_to_block_task(rq, prev, prev_state); switch_count = &prev->nvcsw; blr X19 1: get_current_task tsk MoV X0, sp } bl asm_exit_to_user_mode ret_to_user next = pick_next_task(rq, prev, &rf); rq_set_donor(rq, next); SYM_CODE_END(ret_from_fork) NOKPROBE(ret_from_fork) STOCALE UEFANEX drag pushO: __diag_ignore(GCC, 8, "-Wattribute-alias", dancinkage cong sysomndnes Marta, aC vecc, VA AKUS_/ attribute (altas( stringity( se systanane)))); ONGsystanane, ERRNO); _do_systinare(__MAP(X,__SC_DECL,_VA_ARGS_ _se_sysmenare(__MAP(X,__SC_LONG,__VA_ARGS__)): se sysauname MAP(X, SC LONG,VA ARGS_)) do sussunare MAP(X. SC CAST, VA ARGS. _MAP(X, __SC_TEST,__VA_ARGS_ -PROTECT(x, ret,__MAP(X, __SC_ARGS, _VA_ARGS__)): 10000 94 static inline long SYSCALL DESTEX - do systanare (_MaP(X, _ SC_DECL, _ VA ARGS_ ????? ?????? ??????????? Hello I would like to a process please. They have played us for absolute fools.

Glorified CSV

Glorified CSV
Let's be honest - JSON is what happens when you give CSV a makeover and tell it to wear a suit to the interview. Sure, it's got fancy curly braces and proper nesting, but strip away the syntactic sugar and what do you have? The same damn tabular data with extra steps. Every frontend dev who's spent hours parsing nested JSON only to flatten it into a simple table for display knows that feeling of "why did we even bother?" Meanwhile, TOML and YAML are sitting in the corner wondering why JSON gets all the attention when they've been better options all along. The cat's reaction perfectly captures that moment when you realize your API could've just returned a simple CSV and saved everyone 40% of the bandwidth.

That Just Sounds Like CSV With Extra Steps

That Just Sounds Like CSV With Extra Steps
The eternal cycle of data format reinvention continues. TOON appears to be yet another attempt to make data more readable than JSON, which itself was supposed to be more readable than XML, which was more readable than... you get the idea. The kicker? TOON uses 154 chars while JSON needs 412 for the same data. Sure, it's more compact, but at what cost? Another syntax to learn, another parser to debug at 2AM when production breaks. The Rick and Morty reaction perfectly captures that weary sigh of "here we go again" that echoes through developer souls whenever someone announces they've invented a revolutionary new data format.

It Can Store Vectors

It Can Store Vectors
Every database migration in a nutshell! First you're screaming at PostgreSQL like it's your mortal enemy, then you reluctantly try it, and suddenly... That magical moment when you discover PostgreSQL isn't just a MySQL replacement—it's a full-blown upgrade with actual vector support, JSON capabilities, and transactions that actually work as intended. The bird's dreamy expression in the last panel perfectly captures that "where have you been all my life?" revelation after suffering through MySQL's limitations for years. The database equivalent of upgrading from a bicycle to a Tesla and wondering how you ever survived before.

SQL Time Is Always Wrong Time

SQL Time Is Always Wrong Time
What happens when a DBA designs a clock? You get Roman numerals in completely random order because SQL queries without proper constraints do whatever they want. Notice how IX (9) is where 4 should be, and V (5) is at 6 o'clock. The comment "It Will Work This Time" is the eternal lie every developer tells themselves before running untested SQL in production. Spoiler: it never does.

How To Assign Ids Like A Pro

How To Assign Ids Like A Pro
Sure, install a whole package to generate a unique ID when Date.now() is sitting right there, ready to create timestamp collisions in your production database. Nothing says "senior developer" like using the current millisecond as your primary key. Who needs data integrity when you can have simplicity? Five years later when two users click submit at the exact same millisecond, you'll remember this meme while updating your resume.

My Girlfriend Is A Data Model

My Girlfriend Is A Data Model
The smile-to-despair pipeline that hits when your "model" girlfriend isn't the runway type, but a data model in your codebase. In 2020, you're smugly telling everyone about your model girlfriend. By 2026, you've spent six years maintaining that legacy model class with 47 properties, 23 inheritance levels, and enough technical debt to crash the economy. Nothing ages a developer like watching your beautiful abstraction turn into a horrifying monolith that nobody wants to touch but everyone depends on.

The Date Assumption Intersection

The Date Assumption Intersection
The Venn diagram of pain where Excel users and incels intersect on "incorrectly assuming something is a date." Excel thinks your phone number is February 3rd, 1906, while that other group thinks a friendly "good morning" text means wedding bells. The real tragedy? Both refuse to accept proper formatting instructions.

SQLite: The Lightweight Database With Heavy Trust Issues

SQLite: The Lightweight Database With Heavy Trust Issues
SQLite users know the struggle all too well. You're happily writing queries, reaching out for that precious data, when suddenly your database hits you with the classic "database is locked" error. It's like inviting someone to dinner and then locking the front door. "Come on in! Oh wait, you can't." And just like that, your beautiful DELETE statement gets bodyblocked by a pink blob while your transaction gets ROLLBACK'd into oblivion. The true SQLite experience: lightweight enough to fit in your pocket, temperamental enough to make you question your career choices.

Clock But It's SELECT DIGITS FROM NUMBERS ORDER BY DIGIT NAME DESC

Clock But It's SELECT DIGITS FROM NUMBERS ORDER BY DIGIT NAME DESC
OH. MY. GOD. This is what happens when you let a database admin design a clock! The numbers are in complete chaos because some SQL-obsessed maniac decided to ORDER BY DIGIT NAME DESC instead of, you know, ACTUAL NUMERICAL ORDER like a SANE HUMAN BEING! The SQL query literally sorted the digits by their spelled-out names in descending order, so "twelve" comes before "three" which comes before "ten" and so on. Can you imagine trying to tell time on this monstrosity?! It's like asking what time it is and getting back "SELECT CURRENT_TIME FROM REALITY WHERE SANITY = NULL"!

I Sincerely Apologize (For Nuking Your Database)

I Sincerely Apologize (For Nuking Your Database)
The most terrifying message in tech: "did you just deleted my whole fucking data from my database?" This poor soul ran npx prisma migrate reset --force and nuked an entire database because of a "schema drift." Translation: "I saw a problem and chose violence." The four-point apology list is basically the stages of grief for database admins: Should've warned you (duh) Should've asked permission (double duh) Should've made a backup (triple face-palm) Should've tried literally ANY other approach And that's why we now have a new addition to the dev commandments: "Thou shalt not touch production without adult supervision and a backup strategy that doesn't involve prayers."

Clock But We Saved Db Space By Just Returning The Index Of The Array Of Digit Names

Clock But We Saved Db Space By Just Returning The Index Of The Array Of Digit Names
The clock shows actual array indices instead of spelled-out numbers. Because why waste precious database space storing "seven" when you could just store 7 and let the frontend figure it out? This is what happens when the database optimization team gets to design the UI. Next up: replacing all button labels with enum values to save a few bytes. Your users will adapt.