Jet vs. Sql Server Express

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Ah no. SQL Mobile is being expanded to work on all Windows platforms. Try
it... let me know if it fails.

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William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
INETA Speaker
www.betav.com/blog/billva
www.betav.com
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Wow...I haven't seen this much Access bashing since I attended a FoxPro UG
back in '98 :)

I've been developing Access apps since 1.0 days and still use it extensively
today. Access is a great database for local apps, and its really hard to beat
for its RAD capabilities. And anyone who says its pokey just hasn't used it
extensively...or correctly.

Try loading a 800,000 record table into a .Net datareader and see what
happens! In Access, its a no brainer..and FAST.

Sure...its not scalable, and security doesn't compare to SQL.

But for local apps of up to 20 users, it can really be a great tool. And the
new Office 12 version looks like its going to have some great new features.

I say don't just judge by the tool..look at the application requiremnets.
Sometimes Access can really be the best fit.
 
Wow...I haven't seen this much Access bashing since I attended a FoxPro UG
back in '98 :)

I've been developing Access apps since 1.0 days and still use it extensively
today. Access is a great database for local apps, and its really hard to beat
for its RAD capabilities. And anyone who says its pokey just hasn't used it
extensively...or correctly.

Try loading a 800,000 record table into a .Net datareader and see what
happens! In Access, its a no brainer..and FAST.

Sure...its not scalable, and security doesn't compare to SQL.

But for local apps of up to 20 users, it can really be a great tool. And the
new Office 12 version looks like its going to have some great new features.

I say don't just judge by the tool..look at the application requiremnets.
Sometimes Access can really be the best fit.
Click to expand...

I agree that Access is a good solution for local applications (with a
single user), but not for multiple users. I have also been using it
since Version 1.0.

Otis Mukinfus
http://www.otismukinfus.com
http://www.tomchilders.com
 
Ah, I don't think we were bashing Access. We were attempting to make
developers just getting started aware that JET (the default DBMS engine in
Access) is problematic for ANY business application. Access can, in fact be
a front-end to SQL Server as well and yes, I agree it's a nice, easy
development tool. We've seen companies large and small create applications
with Access/JET or VS/JET only to regret the decision years down the road
when they discover that the application by its very design is not scalable
and that JET is incapable of protecting their data. We've seen companies
that have 10,000 or more JET/Access databases (and Excel spreadsheets)
managing critical data. Once HIPA and other federal laws forced these
companies to protect private customer data, these databases became a
nightmare for the company to purge. How many companies large and small can
say that the data they manage is not sensitive in some way, is not important
to the success of the business in some way and can be wantonly accessed as
if the information it contains doesn't matter? As far as performance and
architectural differences, loading 800,000 rows into any "client-side" data
structure is a challenged way to approach any data query problem. If that's
the way an application is designed, I don't wonder that it doesn't scale--it
certainly won't support 20 users.

--
____________________________________
William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
INETA Speaker
www.betav.com/blog/billva
www.betav.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
__________________________________
 
Otis Mukinfus said:
I agree that Access is a good solution for local applications (with a
single user), but not for multiple users. I have also been using it
since Version 1.0.

Otis Mukinfus
Click to expand...

Really...not for multiple users? I currently have a production app running
(for the last 6 years) with up to 30 users (mostly inputs and edits) banging
on it all day long. Runs liike a champ, very rarely crashes, and we put its
data up on the company web site, where there can be up to 10 users querying
the data via ASP.

Works for me..and them :)
 
Hi Bill,

I agree with much of what you say. And..BTW...the app doesnt try to read in
800,000 records in the user interface. I was just trying to make a point
about how capable Access can be.

And if a company has 10000 Access MDB's with important data floating around
in the first place..someone in IT should be fired! :)
 
The problem is that these databases were all too often created by
"paradevelopers"--non-professionals that don't know how to build a safe,
scalable application. Someone walks by and says "Hey, that's cool, can I
have a copy of that?" and they walk off with a copy of the program with none
of the understanding of the impact. The IT departments are doing what they
can to purge these rogue databases. I no longer recommend JET databases for
businesses--large or small.

--
____________________________________
William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
INETA Speaker
www.betav.com/blog/billva
www.betav.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
__________________________________
 
¤ Wow...I haven't seen this much Access bashing since I attended a FoxPro UG
¤ back in '98 :)
¤
¤ I've been developing Access apps since 1.0 days and still use it extensively
¤ today. Access is a great database for local apps, and its really hard to beat
¤ for its RAD capabilities. And anyone who says its pokey just hasn't used it
¤ extensively...or correctly.
¤
¤ Try loading a 800,000 record table into a .Net datareader and see what
¤ happens! In Access, its a no brainer..and FAST.
¤
¤ Sure...its not scalable, and security doesn't compare to SQL.
¤
¤ But for local apps of up to 20 users, it can really be a great tool. And the
¤ new Office 12 version looks like its going to have some great new features.
¤
¤ I say don't just judge by the tool..look at the application requiremnets.
¤ Sometimes Access can really be the best fit.

Echo what Bill said.

Actually my company uses Access frequently in multi-user environments and we have a number of
applications that depend upon it. However, none of those are distributed environments where Access
has a significant tendency to fall over. It simply wasn't designed for this type of environment.


Paul
~~~~
Microsoft MVP (Visual Basic)
 
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