Re: Flamewar object databases vs. relational databases
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 23:29:41 GMT
Message-ID: <7NFS6.24$Bv4.139_at_newsfeed.slurp.net>
"Todd Gillespie" <toddg_at_linux128.ma.utexas.edu> wrote in message
>
> As it stands, I see no end in sight with Carl point-blank refusing to
> read a relational textbook and an increasingly annoyed Bob descending into
> increasingly terse profanity.
Actually, both sides have completely missed the point. No relational database is going to beat a properly configured OODBMS which has been setup for a specific applicaiton with specific access patterns. Think about it ... that schema is typically designed for an app that knows precisely how it will access the data, and it's totally optimized toward that kind of access pattern. RDBMSs by their very nature separate the app logic and data storage model, so you're going to get impedance mismatch no matter what you try.
So why don't OODBMSs rule the world? Simple: They aren't appropriate for enterprise data stores. Essentially, an OODBMS data schema tends to work well for single applications, or applications that are closely-related. But they don't work well at all when you have diverse sets of applications with differing access patterns trying to hit the data. That's where an RDBMS does very well.
All this talk about gathering specific record IDs and passing them to and fro in some vain attempt to match OODBMS access speed is ridiculous. The power of an RDBMS is the underlying mathematical model that allows it to be an enterprise data store. It's similar to another flame-war topic: C++ vs. Java. Java is slower than C++ (all anecdotal cases aside), but it's certainly my language of choice for most applications.
Given a mission-critical embedded system that needed speed, I'd pick an OODBMS in a heartbeat. Just as I'd pick C++ over Java under some circumstances. But present me with a company that needs to store its financials, inventory, etc. data ... I'd be hard-pressed to select an OODBMS for that kind of job.
(Also, while Carl is reading about relational algebra and tuple calculus, Bob needs to read the series of responses to the Third Manifesto ...) Received on Sun Jul 22 2001 - 01:29:41 CEST