Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Database

When it came time to pick the database for ShowMeTheParts the choice was easy. We are basically an anti-Microsoft shop. We don’t use any Microsoft development tools when building applications for our Automotive Aftermarket catalog customers. Our catalog application is entirely native and only requires 3 DLL’s to run, so our application runs on all version of Windows. We never have to worry about some other application installing some goofy Microsoft DLL that throws all other well behaved programs under the bus. I started working with Extended Systems Advantage database server over 15 years ago as a DBF replacement for Clipper and have never looked back. Sometimes we get crap from IT departments from prospective clients because we don’t use SQL, but one of the great advantages is our application/database doesn’t require a Database Administrator. So our customers are not depended on IT resources, which is huge. It is so simple to install, our director of Operations (who has no IT experience) is able to walk most customer thru the installation. In fact a large customer’s IT shop insisted on me coming out and installing an upgrade. It took me about 2 minutes to install (45 minutes to drive there) and when I said I was done; the IT manager fell off his chair. “Are you done already” were his exact words as he picked himself off the floor. Those 3 DLL I spoke if earlier are for Advantage, so once it’s installed it runs quietly on any Windows Server, just doing its job. No IT resources required.

So we love Advantage here and with 15 years of experience we can really make it go.

Next week I’ll get a little deeper into the structure of database and how we related tables together.

I’m off to get a 9 mile run around Waterfall Glen.