Re: SQL server Vs Oracle

From: <leapin00_at_my-dejanews.com>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 05:26:13 GMT
Message-ID: <7hti1l$d6u$1@nnrp1.deja.com>

"Ling" <circetsui_at_msn.com> wrote:

> Our project team is looking into upsizing a VB/Access database to
> either MS SQL Server/ Oracle on NT. We don't know what their main
> differences are and which one we should use. Any information
> regarding this subject or any recommendation will be very
> appreciated.

If you don't expect to have more than 3 to 5 users then SQL Server is probably all you need. But then consider that Oracle supports all the latest standards and Microsoft doesn't. For example, Oracle, IBM, Informix, Sybase all support SQLJ, the embedded-SQL standard for Java. Microsoft doesn't. This means you will have to write all your stored procedures and triggers in a Microsoft-proprietary language called T/SQL. If you use Oracle you can write stored procedures in Java, which is an industry standard.

If you choose SQL Server you will end up having to learn T/SQL to write your stored procedures. You can't use T/SQL to make graphical clients though. This means you also have to learn Visual Basic. You may also need to learn C++ to write the middle tier.

If you choose Oracle you only need to learn Java. Using Java you can write your stored procedures, your graphical client, and also your middle-tier. Since all three tiers are written in the same language application partitioning is easy. If you feel that moving a portion of your code from the client to the database server can improve performance, you can easily do that since all three tiers are in Java. If you choose SQL Server you have to rewrite your code if you ever need to change the partitioning of your application.

In both cases you have to learn SQL. Note that knowing SQL doesn't make T/SQL easier to learn, even though the name "T/SQL" has the letters "SQL" in it. Unlike SQL, T/SQL is a programming language with loops and conditionals and so on. If you need to do loops and conditionals, Java is a better choice. It is a nicer language, it is easier to learn, and you can do more with Java. Java will look a lot better on your resume than T/SQL, and it will make you more versatile.

About Oracle's Java support:
http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,2247854,00.html

Also consider that Microsoft is steadily losing marketshare to Oracle, on the Windows NT operating system:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990429/ca_oracle__1.html

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