Re: Selecting a database for development

> I have a new development project involving storage and manipulation of
> transaction records - total data will be in <20 tables, with fields in
> total <400, records perhaps <100,000
>
> Typically I would use Access/VBA/VB for such a development, and this
> is where my expertise is. Before I go right ahead, I thought I would
> look around and see what other options exist.
>
> If I were to use an Oracle database for data storage....
>
> 1. What development tools would I require

For the back-end just the Oracle database and any text editor such as notepad.

> 2. What are host requirements for a program storing data in
> Oracle. So far I have developed around Microsoft Office, which has
> the benefit of being almost everywhere

Microsoft office almost everywhere? You mean almost nowhere. Microsoft products only run on Windows. Oracle runs on, last time I counted, 92 different hardware platforms and operating systems. If you can find a machine made since the Jurassic that doesn't run Oracle let us know. You can run Oracle on WinNT, Win95, Win98, Win2000, Linux, Solaris, HPUX, AIX, whatever.

> 3. How transferable will VB and SQL knowledge be

SQL about 90%. VB not at all unless you want to front-end your application using VB which is possible through ODBC or one of its variants.

> 4. Access and Excel can be used to access data in various types
> of database, so could be used here - what are the other front end
> options with Oracle

The best front-end options with Oracle are:

Oracle Developer (forms reports and graphs) VB
Java
ASP
C & C++
and probably 20+ other products.

You will have a learning curve. No doubt about it. But the reward at the other end are huge. Stability, security, scalability, and payroll compensation.

Daniel A. Morgan Received on Fri Feb 16 2001 - 01:09:45 CST