Skip to main content

Cloud Database? NoSQL? Nah, just use CSVs and CsvHelper

KISS - Keep it Simple, Stupid. While I don't like calling people stupid, I do like to Keep it Super Simple!

I was talking to Jeff Fritz on my team about a new system we're architecting. I suggested CosmosDB or perhaps Azure Table Storage. Then we considered the amount of data we were storing (less than 100 megs) and Jeff said...let's just use CSV files and CsvHelper.

First I was shocked. SHOCKED I SAY.

via GIPHY

Then I was offended

via GIPHY

But finally I was hey...that's a good idea.

via GIPHY

A fine idea in fact. Why use more moving parts than needed? Sure we could use XML or JSON, but for our project we decided rather than even bother with an admin site that we'd use Excel for administration! It edits CSV files nicely thank you very much.

Can you parse CSV files yourself? Sure, but it'll start getting complex as you move between data types, think about quotes, deal with headers, whitespace, encoding, dates, etc. CSV files can be MUCH more complex and subtle than you'd think. Really.

Here's what CsvHelper can do for you:

var csv = new CsvReader( textReader );

var records = csv.GetRecords<MyClass>();

Here you just get an array of some class - if your class's structure maps 1:1 with your CSV file. If not, you can map your class with a projection of the types in the CSV file.

public sealed class PersonMap : CsvClassMap<Person>

{

    public PersonMap()

    {

        Map( m => m.Id );

        Map( m => m.Name );

        References<AddressMap>( m => m.Address );

    }

}


public sealed class AddressMap : CsvClassMap<Address>

{

    public AddressMap()

    {

        Map( m => m.Street );

        Map( m => m.City );

        Map( m => m.State );

        Map( m => m.Zip );

    }

}

And finally, just want to export a CSV from an Enumerable that mirrors what you want? Boom.

var csv = new CsvWriter( textWriter );

csv.WriteRecords( records );

Or do it manually if you like (hardcode some, pull from multiple sources, whatever):

var csv = new CsvWriter( textWriter );

foreach( var item in list )

{

    csv.WriteField( "a" );

    csv.WriteField( 2 );

    csv.WriteField( true );

    csv.NextRecord();

}

It won't replace SQL Server but it may just replace one-table SQLite's and "using a JSON file as a database" for some of your smaller projects. Check out CsvHelper's site and excellent docs here along with the CsvHelper GitHub here.

Sponsor: Check out JetBrains Rider: a new cross-platform .NET IDE. Edit, refactor, test and debug ASP.NET, .NET Framework, .NET Core, Xamarin or Unity applications. Learn more and download a 30-day trial!


© 2017 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.
     


from Scott Hanselman's Blog https://feeds.hanselman.com/~/456706218/0/scotthanselman~Cloud-Database-NoSQL-Nah-just-use-CSVs-and-CsvHelper.aspx
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rail Fence Cipher Program in C and C++[Encryption & Decryption]

Here you will get rail fence cipher program in C and C++ for encryption and decryption. It is a kind of transposition cipher which is also known as zigzag cipher. Below is an example. Here Key = 3. For encryption we write the message diagonally in zigzag form in a matrix having total rows = key and total columns = message length. Then read the matrix row wise horizontally to get encrypted message. Rail Fence Cipher Program in C #include<stdio.h> #include<string.h> void encryptMsg(char msg[], int key){ int msgLen = strlen(msg), i, j, k = -1, row = 0, col = 0; char railMatrix[key][msgLen]; for(i = 0; i < key; ++i) for(j = 0; j < msgLen; ++j) railMatrix[i][j] = '\n'; for(i = 0; i < msgLen; ++i){ railMatrix[row][col++] = msg[i]; if(row == 0 || row == key-1) k= k * (-1); row = row + k; } printf("\nEncrypted Message: "); for(i = 0; i < key; ++i) f...
3 comments
Read more

Data Encryption Standard (DES) Algorithm

Data Encryption Standard is a symmetric-key algorithm for the encrypting the data. It comes under block cipher algorithm which follows Feistel structure. Here is the block diagram of Data Encryption Standard. Fig1: DES Algorithm Block Diagram [Image Source: Cryptography and Network Security Principles and Practices 4 th Ed by William Stallings] Explanation for above diagram: Each character of plain text converted into binary format. Every time we take 64 bits from that and give as input to DES algorithm, then it processed through 16 rounds and then converted to cipher text. Initial Permutation: 64 bit plain text goes under initial permutation and then given to round 1. Since initial permutation step receiving 64 bits, it contains an 1×64 matrix which contains numbers from 1 to 64 but in shuffled order. After that, we arrange our original 64 bit text in the order mentioned in that matrix. [You can see the matrix in below code] After initial permutation, 64 bit text passed throug...
Post a Comment
Read more

Experimental: Reducing the size of .NET Core applications with Mono's Linker

The .NET team has built a linker to reduce the size of .NET Core applications. It is built on top of the excellent and battle-tested mono linker . The Xamarin tools also use this linker so it makes sense to try it out and perhaps use it everywhere! "In trivial cases, the linker can reduce the size of applications by 50%. The size wins may be more favorable or more moderate for larger applications. The linker removes code in your application and dependent libraries that are not reached by any code paths. It is effectively an application-specific dead code analysis ." - Using the .NET IL Linker I recently updated a 15 year old .NET 1.1 application to cross-platform .NET Core 2.0 so I thought I'd try this experimental linker on it and see the results. The linker is a tool one can use to only ship the minimal possible IL code and metadata that a set of programs might require to run as opposed to the full libraries. It is used by the various Xamarin products to extract...
Post a Comment
Read more