MyBB Community Forums

its better to ask web host to disable strict mode of your MySQL server

(2016-01-13, 12:40 PM).m. Wrote: [ -> ]its better to ask web host to disable strict mode of your MySQL server

Hello,

I am from the executive management team at the host in question (We're actually a research and development organization that offers hosting as a side venture). I was about to attempt to make this an email message, but no email contacts seem to exist for the MyBB Group for me to dispatch a professional letter to.

On 7 February I had the change request for this come across my desk for consideration as is our policy on system configuration changes. This is how I became aware of this forum thread. This kind of request is always alarming to me and my team and was made even more alarming by a vendor suggesting this as a better option.

Please be advised that we have formally denied this change request on the basis that it requests a violation of standards and best practices. We would advise any client of ours or web host to do the same.

Strict mode exists as a matter of safety and is a good practice to have enabled on production-quality systems.  It implements several checks to ensure that queries being processed are correct and compliant with the database schema and as such imposes a certain level of quality of development practices. It provides the MySQL server a layer (among many) of defense against malfunctioning or poorly developed applications. To summarize with a metaphor, strict mode ensures that the gears of the software fits together, teeth align and rotate smoothly before switching on the motor full throttle.

To disable strict mode, it is like using "On Error Resume Next" in Visual Basic or "error_reporting(0);" on PHP or an empty exception catch block on C. You're treating the symptom, not the illness. Essentially you're ramming those gears together and making them rotate whether the teeth align or not, potentially damaging something in the process.

It was later determined that indeed a schema mismatch was the case and that the prescribed schema provided by the developers did not align with what the software expected of it. This has been corrected without disabling strict mode or changing any other system configuration item.

I understand that many developers that work on MyBB are volunteers — thank you, but when that code is used by the public who depend on it and trust it, it needs to be held to a standard of quality and issues correctly addressed. Even if the components are offered by third parties.

With this in mind, we respectfully urge you and your team to reconsider your approach to support in advising users to violate best practices and standards to get software functional. It indeed permits you to clear your support queues and get users on their way faster, but it harms Internet infrastructure and stability and further encourages poor development practices that may occasionally have security implications.

The only way we can ensure the Internet is a stable, quality, secure platform is if we all work together to encourage others to uphold standards and practices. It's everyone's responsibility. Every little gear needs to fit together as best as possible.

Thank You and Securely,
K. Xeron
Digibase Operations

^ let me thank you for the detailed feedback & the suggestions