Re: Oracle Forms VS Java

Forms is great for "intra"net apps where you have complete control of the desktop. Low cost development, quick time to market. You pay for this with a bit more "ponderous" screen, but useful and relatively easy to maintain. No conventional object model to speak of, but you can be the judge of whether that is something worth worrying about. Programatically forms 6i is similar to a VB 6.0, for those of you from an MS background.

The key issue for us with Forms was deployment of the j-initiator. If you have thousands of desktops to maintain it is problematic at best. Better in such a case to throw a nice jsp app at the problem. Lightweight and best of all almost any PC out of the box will run it. I know some people will say you can auto-deploy the initiator, which is true, but know your costs. How much does it cost to have someone tracking down initiator issues?

jsp simplifies your life and from a programmer's point of view is a nicer place to develop. Drawback of course is it's flexibility as it is object oriented and therefore all of the pros and cons of OO come into play.

Throwing java with swing, etc. at the problem merely gets you a little bit less code and OO. If you "need" OO that badly maybe you need to look at your system design and let IT make the decision for you. OO can be the decision maker sometimes. But then you could throw the lightweight jsp at it, in most cases. Perfectly possible that some apps won't lend themselves well to jsp, but not too many, unless they require heavy client abilities.

We use both here, Forms with Financials and jsp for all add-on screens. It seems that Oracle's new ERP screens are mostly jsp (web expense, other self-service screens) though I have a hard time imagining that they could convert to all jsp given the size of the current system.

Remember - jsp - OO, lightweight, simple to deploy; Forms a bit heavier, and needs initiator, no OO. Java with swing, etc., middle of the road, deployment on a par with Forms, more powerful client than jsp.

Not trying to gore anyone's ox, just throwing out what's worked for us in a very simple fashion.

Good luck
Greg Received on Mon Jun 02 2003 - 09:08:49 CDT