Re: Oracle Forms VS Java

David Segall (david_at_segall.net) wrote:
: Posted and emailed:
: Daniel Frechette <daniel_at_multipro.ca> wrote:

: >Good day,
: >
: >I'm currently working on a project to modify an existing system that was
: >developed in Oracle Forms 4.5 (Web-enabled) and Java (J2EE, JRun, Oracle
: >DB). I now have a new application to develop but I don't know if it should
: >be done in Forms or Java. The new application has to be light and
: >accessible through a Web browser. I'm trying to assess the pros and cons of
: >both approaches but I know very little about Forms. Can anyone tell me what
: >are the TRUE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES of Oracle Forms? Does anyone know
: >of any studies or architecture comparisons that might be helpful?
: >
: >Thank you,
: >Daniel
: My knowledge of both Java and Oracle is almost zero which is why I
: bought the "Oracle9i JDeveloper Handbook" published by Oracle Press.
: The section entitled JDeveloper: Past, Present, and Future says that
: Oracle has "seemingly decided to pursue JDeveloper as the primary
: development platform".

That is too bad. JDeveloper (the developer environment that is) is apparently a java application. I have found it tedious to use. On a giga hz machine I can type faster (in small spurts) than it seems able to handle and the application goes wonky (i.e. hangs, or goes away for a while). Also, it does not appear to handle such minor details, on windows, as acting like a normal windows application, so for example, you can not double click the left close box on a window to make the window close (a small detail, but one that became built into my psyche since about fifteen years ago on macintosh, and atari, and then on windows for many years). Perhaps there is an option somewhere, but its quirks seem more related to being java based more than anything else, same issues with keyboard short cuts... )

It is useful to ask it to set up a project to see what options or libraries it chooses, but then it's best to use anything else and compile directly.

Oracle forms, (the developer environment that is) though not my favourite development environment, is a perfectly respectable tool. It performed almost all normal operations as fast as it ever needed to on a much slower PC, and was generaly a useful tool for almost all stages of form development. Received on Mon Jun 02 2003 - 00:56:28 CDT