Thank you, Martin Fowler, for creating a new blog

You might wonder why I am attributing this blog to Mr. Fowler. Well, here's why.

I got a note in my email the other day that looked like this:

From: Justice Gray
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 10:40 AM
To: Joe Friesenhan; Christians Izquierdo; Andrew Mackenzie
Subject: Only sending this as food for thought

Or fodder for discussion. Honestly!! I’m not even too sure I agree with this entirely, but it’s always good to be challenged…

http://www.martinfowler.com/bliki/AnemicDomainModel.html

-J

So, I read the article. What the article taught me is that, in the computing industry, once you say one or two smart things, everybody starts thinking you are smart, and then you start to get cocky and say things that make no sense. So, I sent back this note:

From: Joe Friesenhan
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 1:31 PM
To: Justice Gray; Christians Izquierdo; Andrew Mackenzie
Subject: RE: Only sending this as food for thought

I know it’s been a long time since you sent this note, but I finally got to it and now I just have to say that I now officially think Martin Fowler is an idiot.

The notion that a data-only domain model that allows one to provide logic services (whether heavier impact WS-* based or just internally distinct from the domain model) is actually an antipattern is so utterly purist that I can’t believe he’d record this thought for others to see. I would, in fact, make the opposite argument: is there even a realistic technology model where a pure “data+logic” business domain model makes sense?

Let’s also keep in mind that even if you think I’m a douchebag for being so opposed to this post, I wouldn’t be alone: the core tenet of the Zachman framework is that the what and the how (data and logic) *must* be separate. I remember hearing that and thinking it was too purist as well, and it is, but apparently the entire Zachman framework is an “antipattern”.

Seriously, I don’t follow blogs enough to know if calling Martin Fowler a genuine idiot is some kind of thing the cool kids do these days, but I don’t see how such a myopic point of view that has no grounding in technical implementation savvy can come from someone with such a good reputation. I’d have to say the reputation is unfounded..

I can’t wait for Mr. Fowler’s post on how ignorant the world is for not realizing it is only 6000 years old.

And then, I received this response in return:

From: Justice Gray
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 10:40 AM
To: Joe Friesenhan; Christians Izquierdo; Andrew Mackenzie
Subject: RE: Only sending this as food for thought

I wish you had a blog.
-J

So, long story short, here I am. I'd like to thank Martin Fowler for giving me the extra push needed to get off my ass and publish my own blog so that hopefully I can undo the small bit of damage his post above has done to the computing industry. And, with Sarah Palin running for the vice presidency of the USA, there's a *lot* more to cover!