[dba-SQLServer] DB-Engines list of top 10 databases

Darryl Collins darryl at whittleconsulting.com.au
Tue Jan 20 16:52:34 CST 2015


Good Points Gustav - And I can see the IT dept POV for sure.  Access can be a right PITA when used badly (and many folks (ab)use it this way). 

My point was many requests submitted to IT for basic solutions are either refused outright - and/or too costly / time consuming for an individual dept's budget.  But folks are resourceful.  If IT won't do it, they'll find another way.  Sadly there is a large gap in available skills between those who can do basic VBA programming and those who can create robust solutions in Visual Studio.

Most folks I find don't really understand data either and this leads to problems.  A simple example is nearly all of them design their input to look like their output - usually a recipe for trouble.

Appreciate your comments.
Cheers
Darryl

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Friday, 16 January 2015 7:16 PM
To: Discussion concerning MS SQL Server
Subject: Re: [dba-SQLServer] DB-Engines list of top 10 databases

Hi Arthur and Darryl

Before we label all official IT leaders as stubborn better-knowing stupidos, let me add that I have worked on an Access project for a major business (40,000 employees) for two years.

First of all - and this is a real show stopper - Access isn't suited for team development. Even though you can get it to work to a degree with Visual SourceSafe, it can soon be a mess. 
Our team was small, one was the architect and did many queries and VBA to handle data, one did mainly reports, while I did the hard work with form navigation, larger modules, code, and query optimizing. We managed because we were very organized and typically operated in different corners, and I often during evenings and weekends. But it was much more difficult than if you work alone on a project.

The backend was SQL Server, an old mainframe, and a new SAP system. The application worked reasonable with SQL Server and the old mainframe, but when the SAP system replaced the mainframe and the amount of data grew dramatically, performance went down, and the project was put on hold.

Today I would advise against using Access for such kind of project. It takes a little more (well, a lot more) to build a user interface comparable to Access, but I'm convinced that the flexibility and options for teamwork you gain by using Visual Studio is well worth the extra work. 
Also, VBA is limited regarding event handling and even though you can use WithEvents, we chose to refrain from it because code soon gets messy. VBA isn't really on the beat, and often you sit and wish you had C# at your hands.

/gustav

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Darryl Collins
Sendt: 16. januar 2015 03:01
Til: Discussion concerning MS SQL Server
Emne: Re: [dba-SQLServer] DB-Engines list of top 10 databases

Yes... I see this all the time, everywhere.

You go via the official IT path and put in an initial "What about we try this" type of request request - the usual response is

1: it is too pissy and bespoke for real IT folks to deal with - they refuse to do it outright. Only work on 'real' projects.
2: They will do it, but it will take 10 months and cost $XXX,000+, plus ongoing maint fees.
3: The requestor has to fill out a detailed 40 page scope document for every darn change and get several different folks to sign off on it.
4: They won't build it in Access, has to be on a real platform, which is fine, but the user loses all flexibility and control and cannot customise it in anyway.

99% percent of the time folks go "WTF! - I'll do it myself" (or hire someone like me or you to do it for them).  And they do - all the time.  I know of whole essential systems of Access Databases and even Excel solutions that are used daily in major corps that are not approved or even officially exist.  But it was the only way the users could get the job done.

Cheers
DC

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Doug Murphy
Sent: Friday, 16 January 2015 6:06 AM
To: 'Discussion concerning MS SQL Server'
Subject: Re: [dba-SQLServer] DB-Engines list of top 10 databases

Access does not surprise me at all. If you go into any large organization you will find many Access applications in daily use that were created by the employees who had a need that couldn't be met by the enterprise system. 

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2015 10:30 AM
To: Discussion concerning MS SQL Server
Subject: [dba-SQLServer] DB-Engines list of top 10 databases

*Top 10 database management systems, ranked on popularity, Nov 2014.
Source: DB-Engines <http://db-engines.com/en/ranking>* 1 *Oracle* 2 *MySQL*
3 *Microsoft SQL Server* 4 *PostgreSQL* 5 *MongoDB* 6 *IBM DB2* 7 *Microsoft
Access* 8 *SQLite* 9 *Cassandra* 10 *Sybase ASE* A few things surprised me:
that MySQL is ahead of SQL Server; that Mongo has become so popular so quickly, and that Access is still in the Top 10.

--
Arthur 


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