Pipi

Pipi was the name of a computer system initially created to host information about ecological restoration in New Zealand. The name Pipi came from a small, tasty shellfish (marine mollusc) found in NZ.

I founded NZERN (New Zealand Ecological Restoration Network) and was its National President. Its members were the community groups, farmers and families with a restoration project. It was a way of learning from each other. About 1,000 projects were recorded, with an estimated 3,000 existing.

I designed Pipi for NZERN and led the build effort, and many good people worked on Pipi, which evolved from simple to highly complex. Highly popular with users who demanded an ever-expanding scope, including complete GIS mapping. It was technically successful but died due to total financial dependence on NZ government grants, which changed like the weather. It was never documented because of funding expense constraints, so I carried the design around in my head.

In 2014, I read an article in Scientific American by Markus Covert from Stanford about the successful computer cellular simulation of mycoplasma.

In 2015, I realised that Pipi had been a very early form of cloud computing, and I had been right about many things.

In 2016, I decided to rebuild Pipi from memory and convert it to a SAAS platform that could host a broader range of applications that would be more helpful to more people and be able to financially support itself.

I will record its history in more depth, including the people who helped in a series of blog articles, but here is a brief historical overview.

Note

Ajabbi is the name I chose for the organisation behind Pipi. Pipi is the name of the software.

Major Version History

Pipi 1 (1997-1999)

• CGI.
• Website externally hosted.

Pipi 2 (2000-2001)

• Visual Basic.
• Access database "Backpage".
• Static HTML generator.
• Website externally hosted.

Pipi 3 (2002-2003)

• ColdFusion.
• SQL Server + CFML website externally hosted.
• Spaghetti code.

Pipi 4 (2005-2008)

• MCV.
• ColdFusion Server.
• SQL Server (850 tables).
• ArcIMS.
• GeoServer geodatabase with more tables.
• XML + XSLT.
• 500 class objects.
• 2000 methods.
• 300,000 lines of code.
• Workflow engine.
• State engine.
• Render engine.
• Form engine.
• Content Management System (24,000 static web pages).
• Multiple websites.
• Metadata Repository.
• Own server farm.

Pipi 5 (2005-2008)

• Mobile version (iPaq).
• ArcPad.
• Never went into production.

Pipi 6 (2017-2019)

• ColdFusion.
• The absence of ecological restoration modules exposes the underlying platform.
• Domain-driven design.
• Space, health, particle physics, agriculture, film, construction, laboratory experiments, and wetlands were chosen to prototype and test the system's design for hosting a wide range of domains.
• Monolithic architecture converted to loosely connected modules.
• SAAS applications.
• Plugin architecture.
• The platform is fused with Covert Lab's open-source cellular simulation software.
• Multi-tenancy and 20+ metadata columns were added to all tables.

Pipi 7 (2020)

• ColdFusion.
• Platform optimised for cloud hosting.
• Reorganised into microservices.
• Each microservice has a separate database, logic, workflow and web presentation layer.
• Rules engine.
• CQRS messaging.
• Self-documenting platform.

Pipi 8 (2021-2022)

• Structure of deeply nested modules for security.
• Global namespaces.
• Self-documentation broke.
• Algorithms.
• Markov chains.
• Fuzzy logic.
• Noise Injection.
• PostgreSQL.
• Thousands of parameters.
• Rich primitives are based on the objective reality of emergent layers and are ultimately derived from the laws of physics and replicable science.
• Headless server.

Pipi 9 (2023-

• A complex adaptive system (CAS) emerges capable of learning, evolving, and replicating.
• Primitives are also linked to the layer just below any top ontology.
• Power law behaviours and fractal patterns were observed in logs.
• BORO in reverse feeds ontologies to entity engine.
• Top-level ontologies become subjective worldviews.
• UIDL (Chameleon) rendered UI with workflows, accessibility and i18n.
• Design tokens.
• Self-documentation fixed.
• 4Dism is used for space-time.
• CMS rebuilt to enable user customisation.
• Workflow patterns.
• Generic digital twin.
• Rules as code.
• The server is "trained" to produce SAAS applications.
• Optimised for DevOps teams and Mission Control.
• Automated self-tests using feature flags and canaries.
• Autonomous embedded databases.
• The UI can now be configured to use any human language (269-3) and script (Unicode).
• Testing by volunteers begins.

Pipi 10

• To be designed and built by Pipi 9 when Pipi reaches that capacity
• Self-versioning
• GIS