Free/Open Source SQL Programming
SystemsWhen developing a new SQL application, the
developer/architect must select a programming interface that
fits the requirements of the application. There is a rainbow of
requirements to base this decision on:
- Need It Yesterday
- Is the goal to rapidly develop a data-driven GUI
application? Then you probably shouldn't even be looking
here, and instead look at RAD
Tools.
- Multiple Database Support
- Does it have to access more than one, or even dozens of
different brands of databases?
- Multiple Operating System Support
- Does it need to run on Gnu/Linux only, or other
operating systems?
- Longevity
- Will this application need to be around a decade from
now? If so, it might be dangerous to base it on a
commercial product, as the company that provides it may go
out of business.
- Language Interfaces
- Is it more important to have the interfaces be in some
specific programming language, or are you willing to code
in C/C++? Note that most programming
languages/environments, such as Perl, Python, PHP and
Scheme, provide 'thin' wrappers/interfaces to an assortment
of underlying C language interfaces. Some are listed below,
but you should also check language-specific sites for more
options.
- Proprietary
- Will the application be proprietary? If so, then you
don't want to write code that links to GNU GPL licensed
libraries. You want the GNU LGPL instead, or one of the
other proprietary-code friendly licenses.
- Data Dictionary/Introspection
- Does the application have to work with arbitrary,
unknown database tables? If so, then there needs to be a
mechanism to discover the tables dynamically, at run time.
And not just the tables, but also the types of the data
contained in the fields, thier names, and thier
meaning.
More Open Source SQL Systems
Portions
copyright (c)
1996-2003 Linas Vepstas.
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