Das Problem mit German Strings

> The concept of inlined strings with prefixes (called “German Strings” by Andy Pavlo, in homage to TUM, where the Umbra paper that describes them originated) has been used in many recent database systems (Velox, Polars, DuckDB, CedarDB, etc.) and was introduced to Arrow as a new StringViewArray[^3] type. Arrow’s original StringArray is very memory efficient but less effective for certain operations. StringViewArray accelerates string-intensive operations via prefix inlining and a more flexible and compact string representation.

Seems to be nothing more than they were invented at a German university. I spent quite some time thinking it had something to do with German’s sometimes-SOV word order.

Re: Das Problem mit German Strings

#8

Post by aleph_minus_one » Wed, Aug 27, 2025, 2:02 AM UTC

mathieuh wrote: post #7

thayne wrote: post #6

So... why are they called Getman strings?

https://datafusion.apache.org/blog/2024/09/13/string-view-ge... > The concept of inlined strings with prefixes (called “German Strings” by Andy Pavlo, in homage to TUM, where the Umbra paper that describes them originated) has been used in many recent database systems (Velox, Polars, DuckDB, CedarDB, etc.) and was introduced to Arrow as a new StringViewArray[^3] type. Arrow’s original StringArray is very memory effic…

> I spent quite some time thinking it had something to do with German’s sometimes-SOV word order.

If you refer to subclauses in the German language: here the rule is rather "the finite verb is at the end of the subclause".

Re: Das Problem mit German Strings

#9

Post by dang » Wed, Aug 27, 2025, 2:11 AM UTC

Tadpole9181 wrote: post #5

dang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oops, sorry.

Haha, is that automated or was someone trying to be helpful?

It's automated. And of course it's usually right, but the wrong cases stand out like sore thumbs.

Re: Das Problem mit German Strings

#10

Post by jandrewrogers » Wed, Aug 27, 2025, 2:26 AM UTC

mathieuh wrote: post #7

thayne wrote: post #6

So... why are they called Getman strings?

https://datafusion.apache.org/blog/2024/09/13/string-view-ge... > The concept of inlined strings with prefixes (called “German Strings” by Andy Pavlo, in homage to TUM, where the Umbra paper that describes them originated) has been used in many recent database systems (Velox, Polars, DuckDB, CedarDB, etc.) and was introduced to Arrow as a new StringViewArray[^3] type. Arrow’s original StringArray is very memory effic…

This general string format style has been invented many times over the decades. Unfortunately, we seem to need to relearn the tradeoffs each time.