Re: HELP: Please help, what client-tool to use for developing client-server applications?

My personal recommendation for a low cost client-sever system is Microsoft SQL Server running on Windows NT, with Delphi 2 as the front-end. Microsoft Access or Visual Basic as a front end is also an OK choice if you prefer to stay with the same company. Compared with Oracle & Oracle 2000 combination vs Sybase SQL Server & Powerbuilder combination, the Micorsoft solution is the most cost-effective and cheapest. The SQL syntax of Sybase SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server is nearly identical (MS SQL Server was originally the same as Sybase SQL Server, but the latest version of MS SQL Server is better integrated with Windows NT), with Oracle SQL having it's more distinctive syntax. Despite all using SQL as a query language, there are just enough differences that one has to modify querys created on one for the other. Writing for the lowest commom denominator doesn't work very well, for in the real world, one will use the special features of each SQL Server. For example, MS & Sybase has one way of letting the server assign unique sequential numbers, whereas Oracle has its way. Such is neccessary in the real world. Good luck.
Gene

Savas Pavlidis <pavlidis_at_ibm.net> wrote in article <3340a3e5.2011489_at_news2.ibm.net>...
> Prior of buying, and most of all dedicated to one client tool for
> developing client-server applications, I would like the comments of
> users who already have the experience of more than one to make a
> comparison among them.
>
> In my company we are thinking of moving from our COBOL legacy system
> to client-server. Observed several rdbms, and settled to Oracle or
> Sybase, because they have good support here in Greece. The problem
> aroused for the tools. Oracle wants to use their products
> (developer2000 and designer2000) which seems good at spec, but we have
> heard numerous things for them (they GPF, they are heavy, they are
> slow etc) but one main thing that made us give a second thought, it
> was their price, which is very expensive (at least here in Greece,
> where salaries are too slow compared to US for example). On the other
> end, Sybase moves its Powerbuilder, for which I heard also same things
> as an immature product too, and slow. In usenet several users propose
> other products (Delphi, Jam etc) which makes the situtation even worse
> for us to decide. We are only two (2) developers, and our budget is
> low, so we can't afford the money and most of all the time, to test
> every possible platform (or even some of them) before we decide. And
> because the time invested on one tool, plus the money for education on
> this would be too much to later abandon,
>
> WE WOULD LIKE YOUR OPINIONS PLEASE !!!!!
>
> We seek the opinions of developers who tried more than one of the
> products (Developer2000/Designer2000, Powerbuilder/S-Designor, Delphi2
> C/S, VisualBasic, Jam etc ) and can give their opinions. Some notes of
> the strengths of their preferred tool that is not available on others
> is highly prefered.
> Also sites with documents which compare various tools would be
> helpful.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Please reply also by e-mail, because I may miss the post, due to IBM
> which has a lot of problems with it's news servers the last year.
>
> Savas Pavlidis
>
> pavlidis_at_ibm.net
>
  Received on Tue Apr 01 1997 - 00:00:00 CEST