Open Source projects
I like working with Open Source software (OSS) because it's fun. One of the basic joys of working
with software development is the reaction of your users and OSS is great for a very direct developer-user
relationship. Here are a few projects that I have been heavily involved with:
DataCleaner
DataCleaner was the reason that I started developing Open Source software. It started out as a project for school but has now evolved into one of my primary hobbies and something that I am proud to present to people.
DataCleaner is probably the most advanced Open Source data profiling and data quality application available.
MetaModel
To begin with, MetaModel was a derivative project from DataCleaner. It formed the datastore abstraction layer that was needed to make DataCleaner as extensible and robust as possible. After some time it occurred to me that MetaModel had a lot to offer to other application-scenarios as well, so it was separated from DataCleaner and made into it's own project.
With MetaModel you can access a lot of very dissimilar datastores such as databases, csv-files, xml files, excel spreadsheets and more, using the very same programming model. Furthermore MetaModel allows you to design your queries using an object oriented and type-safe notation. This means that you don't have to deal with the complexities of individual datastore types but are offered a common layer of abstraction which makes everything so much easier and the design so much more beautiful.