Does anybody know of a paper comparing different SQL databases? We are experienced FileMaker developers and brand new to Servoy and SQL.
Thank you for any help. K
First, welcome to Servoy!
When we first started with Servoy we used Firebird, which was included with the default installaton. Firebird worked well, but the utility software for managing the database was weak. Now the Sybase iAnywhere database is included with the default Servoy installation. It is faster than Firebird and includes Sybase Central for managing databases, which works well.
We have had good experience with the default Sybase database. However, there are many on this list who use other backend databases, so you should be able to obtain answers to any questions you may have. I am not aware of a paper comparing SQL databases, perhaps someone else can respond to that.
Do not hesitate to ask questions on this list. It is a great resource.
Second that welcome!
The backends vary in terms of row and column and row specifications (some support longer column names and more chars per field, for instance) and administration tools. We’ve been using MS SQL Server for our recent larger projects and have been quite happy with it (and that’s coming from a diehard Mac fan). Try googling ‘SQL Database comparison’. Last time we did that we found a report that contrasted things like column-name length, max colun length, max num rows, and supported field and index types.
(Also, as a side note, if you settle on MS SQL server, we recommend the FREE jtds JDBC driver. It has better support for MS SQL server than Microsoft’s JDBC driver! If you go in this direction and need help with finding this or understanding what to do with it, post again.)
Here is are some link to some comparisons of PostgreSQL with other databases
http://www.vitavoom.com/postgresql.html
And the a link to the PostgreSQL advantage page
Thanks everyone. These are very useful links and comments, I will check them out. Best. K
Hi Kurt,
In some ways database choice with Servoy is not important (I know that I’ll catch hell with this one). I say that because Servoy can export the entire solution and reimport it using connections to a completely different database server. It is really very cool!
Where you can get into trouble is when you rely on features that are available in one database product, and then attempt to deploy in a different database that does not support the same features (i.e. max field lengths are different, different field types available, etc).
I know that you are thinking about a product for your venture. If the product will be hosted entirely by your company then you’ll be in good shape as you get to choose and stick with a single database.
However if at some point you intend to deploy at customer locations, many will already use a database, and will want to stick with their product of choice. If it is important to deploy across multiple database environments then you must stay away from product specific features.
Also consider cost. I know this is a new venture so you may not want to turn over a large portion of your bankroll to Oracle at this time. There are some wonderful products available for free or minimal cost.
Finally take a look at your customers. Is there a prevalent product in that environment? For example we’ve been talking with some educational customers. They tend to use like the use of open source, and I’m finding MySQL a popular choice, particularly for smaller system deployments. In business, we’ve found lots of shops that have drunk the Microsoft kool-aid and have SQL Server licenses for all.
FYI I’ve been using MySQL on my development machines. It just works really well for me, with a variety of great admin tools available. But I’m sure others on this list would argue that their choices work really well.
One thing that I do like about MySQL is its inclusion in the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) bundle. There is also WAMP (Windows) and MAMP (Mac). These technologies are very common in the web publishing world, and are frequently seen as requirements. With these bundles I have a single intall that gets all of these products installed and working. Plus I can start and stop all these services from a single interface. They save a lot of time.
Hope all is well.
Best,
Rich Coulombre
Hi Kurt,
Rich makes some very good points which bring to the fore the need to think about commercial issues - which are as important as but can tend to sit on top of functional requirements.
A key point which is made by Rich is that you can export your Servoy solution and import it onto a machine/server which is running a completely different database backend and so have your solution be ‘portable’ on the basis that you can move it around very easily.
One thing that I would add is that Servoy makes it possible to devlop a solution independent of a specific DBMS and some of these points came up at a User Group meeting earlier this month and the snippet is below:
A general discussion began regarding the relative merits of using particular DBMS.
The general conclusions were:
Always develop independently of DBMS. Thus you can allow Servoy to render its generic pathways and driver based access to a database which becomes easier to port - for example if you stick with Servoy standard data types (text, integer, number, datetime, media) then these will work with any DBMS with none or only minor modifications.
There are perhaps three layers of complexity for systems into which certain DBMS will fit.
High level requirements = Oracle, Sybase ASE, DB2
Middle level = MS SQL, Progress, Sybase ASA, FrontBase, OpenBase, Pervasive
Open Source = MySQL, PostgreSQL, FireBird
This not meant to be exhaustive nor definitive !
Certainly, when you look at the open source options that you have then most, if not all, low and mid level functionality would be covered by these products before you need to begin to scale up towards the enterprise point.
Cheers
Harry
Thanks Rich and Harry,
We are very excited about the capabilities of Servoy. Part of it is how responsive the Forum is.
It seems like we should develop using one of the more basic databases which can be properly serviced by a data center. Then move up only if we find some features or functionality that we can’t do without.
I appreciate your helpful comments greatly.
Best. K