Re: Oracle Forms vs. Delphi

ddnguyen_at_netcom.com (Duc Nguyen) wrote:
>
>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
>

Hi,
I use Forms 4.5 professionally and Delphi individually! Of the two programming environments, Delphi is extremely superior. Forms has had an extraordinary problem in our environment (NLM Oracle 7.0.16 w/ Windows 3.1) with reliability and I don't have to bore you with our experiences with Oracle support.

The drawback to Delphi is that it is cross-database and is not as tightly integrated with the back-end database. Forms 4.5 can 'optimize' for Oracle. Delphi executes many times faster since its actually compiled (what a concept!) whereas Forms is interpreted. If you can optimize your C/S access enough, Delphi is a better choice IMO. Try using stored procedures for your data-intensive work.

For what its worth, my site is pretty much stuck with Oracle*Forms due to our software in production and our investment in training. Its NOT my tool of choice.

• Mike (mtaylor_at_fuller.fls.com)