Re: Oracle Forms vs. Delphi

Duc,

   I saw your request (below). Admittedly, I have a biased opinion, but I think Delphi does not hold a candle to Forms when it comes to client/server applications. Granted, Delphi is a nice tool for whipping up quick windows applications, but it falls short when it comes to serious client/server computing. For example, Delphi champions will claim that fully compiled executables are the ONLY way to go. True, some CLIENT-SIDE operations can be performed faster, but that is not the point. The real issue should be optimized CLIENT/SERVER performance, not just client performance. By this, I mean taking into account not just the client side app, but also the network and database. Any experienced developer will tell you that rarely is the client the bottleneck in performance, but rather, the network or database. As such, it is of paramount importance that the application development tool you choose be well-integrated with these components. Specifics of this type of integration in Forms 4.5 are things like reduced network traffic for each database reference, stored procedures, automatically enforced referential integrity, default (from the ORACLE7 data dictionary) functionality, etc. Furthermore, Forms4.5 (as you might imagine) has very tight, lean integration with the ORACLE7 database. Delphi, while they do provide "native" drivers, will always suffer from a less elegant interface (slower, more coding, etc).

These points just scratch the surface. Forms 4.5 is now part of a new Oracle product called Developer/2000, which also includes:

Reports 2.5
Graphics 2.5
Procedure Builder 1.5
Browser 2.0
and a few other goodies.

The product is sold as a bundle with free, unlimited runtime.

In addition to Developer/2000, Oracle also has:

Designer/2000 - Modelling (CASE) tool - diagrammers, repository, generators

                for Forms 4.5, Reports 2.5 (that's right! no coding!)

Discoverer/2000 - DSS/Datawarehousing tools geared for the end user.

I could go on all day about this. In the interest of being brief, I will just point out a few more things to consider about Delphi:

• No portability (Windows only)
• No modelling (CASE) support for complex projects
• No repository support for team development
• Weak, unintegrated reporting functionality
• No application partitioning

I hope this helps you make the right choice. Please feel to email me if you have further questions.

Michael
mhowe_at_us.oracle.com

In article <ddnguyenDByxL5.9nu_at_netcom.com> you write:
>
>Hi all,
>We'll be choosing either Oracle Forms4.5 or Borland's Delphi as our
>development tool next week. I've used Powerbuilder, SQLWindows,
>Visual Basic, and Delphi & and think Delphi is the best of the bunch.
>However, my boss wants me to look at Forms4.5 because Oracle is
>our DBMS. If you've used both Forms4.5 and Delphi, what would you
>choose ? I haven't used Forms4.5, BTW. What are the strengths and
>weaknesses of Forms4.5 ? Anyone used Delphi against Oracle ? Any
>comments ? Thanks.
>-Duc Nguyen
>ddnguyen_at_netcom.com
>
Received on Fri Jul 21 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST