Re: Java client-server: what options are there?

ramon_at_conexus.net (Ramon F Herrera) said:
>I have to develop client-server systems in which the following
>is pretty much decided:
>
> - The database is Oracle 9iR2
> - The server OSs are Solaris and Linux
> - The clients (a few dozen) are Windows (XP?)
> - The client side runs on Java
>
>Those are the givens, the rest is up for grabs...

Pretty much money into the database engine, and apparently also for the Sparc (Sun) hardware, but then, that's still the currently most used model.

>The main undecided part is: exactly how to realize the client-server
>connection? That's what I would like to hear and read about.
>What options do I have?

As others have discussed, create the server side Java-based, so your JDBC connection is between the server-side Java classes and the database, and either use applets or pure HTML-browser on client side (to connect to the server-side components).

>I have read about servlets, Tomcat, etc. but it looks like once
>I get into that stuff (the area seems to be called "Enterprise"),
>the tools become extremely expensive (for instance I will have
>to upgrade my $700 Developer JBuilder to a $3500 Enterprise JBuilder).

No, no J2EE needed here. As development tools, take a look at NetBeans and Eclipse and pick the one you like. Or then just use your favourite code editor.

>The issue of performance still worries me (I am a speed freak):

Then design your database structure properly, and have someone to set up the DB system correctly. After that, make sure your algorithms are proper for your data. Think how much data you're transferring and accessing at each point, and plan to minimize data volumes as early as possible.

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