Re: db2 vs oracle

Mike <mikee_at_mikee.ath.cx> wrote in message news:<10ipe6fjjr7k156_at_corp.supernews.com>...

> The question: At the SQL standard level is there any
> appreciable difference between Oracle and DB2.

The simple answer is no: each have their own strengths & weaknesses, but these tend to be nuances and each are otherwise very ansi sql compliant.

The complex answer is it depends: on exactly what you want to do with this database. I've had to make quite a few purchasing recommendations in the past, and to be honest, sql features has never been a deciding factor (between major commercial products). Licensing costs, vendor strategy, vendor/product viability, solution managability, skills availability, third-party support, performance & scalability - these were the factors that typically influenced the decision the most.

DB2 & Oracle are very competitive in my opinion. Oracle has more mindshare, third-party support, and features than DB2 does. DB2 is slightly more primitive, but also simpler and cheaper. DB2 also has some very high-end scalability capabilities if you're in the data warehousing world.

Coming from flat files, vsam, ims/db, or mysql these db2 & oracle probably look about the same. But once you get much closer and start working with them the differences loom large. ;-) Received on Wed Aug 25 2004 - 21:21:54 CDT