Choosing between Oracle and SQL ServerI have to decide between using the Oracle database and WebDB vs. Microsoft SQL Server with Visual Studio.This choice will guide our future Web projects.What are the strong points of each of these combinations and what are the negatives?Lori:Making your decision will depend on what you already have.For instance,if you want to implement a Web-based database application and you are a Windows-only shop,SQL Server and the Visual Studio package would be fine.But the Oracle solution would be better with mixed platforms.There are other things to consider,sUCh as what extras you get and what skills are required.WebDB is a content management and development tool that can be used by content creators,database administrators,and developers without any programming eXPerience.WebDB is a browser-based tool that helps ease content creation and provides monitoring and maintenance tools.This is good solution for organizations already using Oracl.Oracle also scales better than SQL Server,but you will need to have a competent Oracle administrator on hand.The SQL Server/Visual Studio approach is more difficult to use and requires an experienced object-oriented programmer or some extensive training.However,you do get a fistful of development tools with Visual Studio:visual Basic,visual C++,and Visual Interdev for only $1619.Plus,you will have to add the cost of the SQL Server,which will run you $1999 for 10 clients or $3999 for 25 clients-a less expensive solution than Oracle’s.Oracle also has a package solution that starts at $6767,depending on the platfrom selected.The Oracle.com suite includes not only WebDB and Oracle8i but also other tools for development such as the Oracle application server,Jdeveloper,and iWorkplace Templates,and the suite runs on more platforms than the Microsoft solution does.This can be a good solution if you are a start-up or a small to midsize business.Buying these tools in package si less costly than purchasing them indvidually.Much depends on your skill level,hardware resources,and budget.I hope this helps in your decision-making.Brooks:Itotally agree that this dicision depends in large part on what infrastructure and expertise you already have.If the decision is close,you need to figure out who’s going to be doing the work and what your priorities are.These two products have different approaches,and they reflect the different personalities of the two vendors.In general,Oracle products are designed for very professional develipment efforts by top-notch programmers and project leaders.The learning period is fairly long,and the solution is pricey;but if you stick it out you will ultimately have greater scalability and greater reliability. If your project has tight deadlines and you don’t have the time an /or money to hire a team of very expensive,very experienced developers,you may find that the Oracle solution is an easy way to get yourself in trouble.There’s nothing worse than a poorly developed Oracle application.Of course,there are trade-offs.The key problem I have with Visual Studio and SQL Server is that you will bu tied to Microsoft opreating systems and Intel hardware.If the day comes when you need to support hundreds of thousands of users,you really don’t have anywhere to go other than buying hundreds of server,which is a management nightmare.If you go with the Microsoft approach,it sounds like you may not need more than Visual Interdev.If you already know that you’re going to be developing ActiveX components is Visual Basic or Visual C++,that’s a warning sign that maybe you should look at the Oracle solution more closerly.I want to emphasize that,althought these platforms have their relative strengths and weaknesses,if you di it right you can build a world-class application on either one.So if you have an organizational bias to ward one of the vendors,by all means go with it,If you’re starting out form scratch,you’re going to have to ask yourself whether your organization leans more toward perfectionism or pragmatism,and realize that both “isms” have their faults.【譯文】往下－>Oracle和SQL Server的比較選擇我不得不決定是使用Oracle數據庫及其數據庫開發系統，還是選擇配有Visual Studio的Microsoft SQL Server.這個決策將決定我們今后Web項目的方向，這兩種組合有什么優勢和劣勢呢?LORI：決定選擇哪種方案將取決于你目前的工作平臺。例如，假如你想實現一種基于Web的數據庫應用，而且你的工作平臺只是Windows，那么SQL Server和Visual Studio組件就是一個不錯的選擇。但是對于混合平臺，則最好選擇Oracle解決方案。還要考慮一些其他的因素，例如你可以獲得哪些額外的功能以及需要哪些技術。WebDB是一種內容治理和開發工具，即使沒有任何編程經驗的內容創建員、數據庫治理員和開發員也都可以使用這種開發工具。WebDB是一種基于瀏覽器的工具，有利于方便地創建內容，以及提供導航和維護工具。這對于已經使用Oracle的機構則是一個很好的解決方案。Oracle比SQL Server更易于調整，但你需要身邊有一個稱職的Oracle治理員。SQL Server/Visual Studio方法相對來說較難使用，需要一個有經驗的面向對象的編程人員或一些全面的練習。但是，你只要花上1619美元就可以獲得許多Visual Studio的開發工具：Visual Basic，Visual C++，以及Visual Interdev。另外，你需要再加上SQL Server的費用，1999美元就可以擁有10個客戶端，或用3999美元獲得25個客戶端—與Oracle的費用相比則便宜些。Oracle也有一個組件解決方案，根據所選擇平臺的不同，費用也不同，最低為6767美元。Oracle.com套件不僅包括WebDB和Oracle8i，還包括其它的開發工具，如Oracle應用服務器、Jdeveloper和iWorkplace模板，該套件與Microsoft方案相比能運行在更多的平臺上。假如你剛創業或是一個小型和中型企業，則Oracle套件是一個很好的選擇方案。以組件的形式購買這些工具要比單獨采購的花費要少些。對這兩種方案的選擇主要取決于你的技術水平、硬件資源和資金預算。我希望以上所說的能對你的決策有一定幫助。Brooks：我完全同意對這兩種方案的選擇在很大程度上取決于你目前所配有的基礎設施和所具有的專門技術。假如很難做出抉擇，你就需要考慮由誰來做這項工作，以及你的重點是什么。這兩種產品采用不同的方法，并反映出這兩個開發商的不同特點。Oracle是為那些優秀的程序員和項目負責人所進行的專業化開發而設計的產品。學習時間較長，該方案的費用也較高;但是你假如堅持下去，最終就會獲得更好的靈活性，以及更高的可靠性。假如你的項目時間很緊，而且你沒有時間或金錢來雇傭一個花消很大、經驗很豐富的開發隊伍，你也許會發現選擇Oracle方案會很輕易使你陷入困境。沒有比開發一個質量很差的Oracle應用程序更槽糕了。 Microsoft所提供的解決方案則致力于快速開發和低成本實現。開發工具、服務器、以及你所需要的開發人員的花費都比較少。若要使項目快速啟動，選擇SQL Server和Visual Studio則是很好的方式。當然，有得必有失。在使用Visual Studio和SQL Server的過程中，我所碰到的主要問題就是，只能使用Microsoft操作系統和Intel硬件。假如有一天你需要支持成百上千個用戶，你除了購買上百個服務器而外別無他法，這會給治理帶來很大的麻煩。假如你采用Microsoft方法，就表明你可能只需要Visual Interdev即可。假如你已經知道你將開發Visual Basic或Visual C++里的ActiveX組件，這就是一個預示，表明你需要更多的來考慮Oracle的解決方案。我想強調的是，盡管這兩種平臺有他們各自的優點和缺點，假如你使用正確，你用任何一個都可以設計出具有世界水平的應用程序。假如你的組織傾向于某種產品，一定要跟隨這種趨向。假如你是從零起點開始，就需要問問自己，你的組織是更傾向于完美主義還是實用主義，并要清楚這兩種主義都有缺點。