Re: Code in the database or middle tier (the CLR controversy)

DA Morgan (damorgan_at_psoug.org) writes:
> Let me emphasize that this is just personal opinion. But I believe that
> when VB and C# are available in SQL Server ... Transact will die ... a
> slow death but a death non-the-less. I expect a very different
> experience from what we saw in the Oracle world with Java in the
> database where the majority of developers didn't change.

You are certainly not the first to raise that concern. I would even go as far as saying that is is typical of people who have just seen the headlines of what is new in SQL 2005.

First of all, there is no away SQL as such can die because of the CLR - because data access is through SQL statements. What theoretically could wither away is the control-of-flow stuff in Transact-SQL. But if Microsoft had believed this to happen soon, they would not have implemented what in my opinion is the most important improvement in SQL 2005: TRY-CATCH handling in T-SQL.

Your idea appears to be that the crowd that works with SQL Server is somehow different than the crowd that works with other engines. I am not in a position to make such a comparison, since I don't hang around with Oracle and DB2 people. But my experience from the SQL Server newsgroups is that indeed not all people who work with SQL Server work in an environment where there is a DBA with some sort of formal training. This may be particularly true for people who set up some database some smaller web site, or who develops smaller apps based on MSDE. I don't know if Oracle or DB2 have any edition which is suitable for that segment. If not, this could explain why Oracle and DB2 does not have this group of developers. If you want to find another engine that does have this sort of developers, look at MySQL.

Anyway, it should also be clear now where your leap of logic is. Even it if is true that there is a segment of SQL Server developers that will write their stored procedures in VB .Net only, there will still be plenty of sites, that are just like your typical Oracle or DB2 shops, and that have a strong DBA, or other people with strong SQL experience. They will not switch to VB. Net at whim.

[Quoted] By the way, the unexperienced developer who want to use the CLR in SQL Server for this SQL Express app, actually has to pass a test: he will have to find out how to enable CLR, because SQL Server 2005 ships with the CLR disabled by default.

-- 
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel_at_sommarskog.se

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