(review by Micheal, SLC, US)
A database software has wide applications. A database software is used in almost all the organizations. Over 15 years many tools have been developed for creating database applications. Many have lost out in the race and some, mostly those from the large software firms have remained in the race. Of these, the popular one are Visual Basic, Developer 2000 from Oracle, Delphi from Inprise. The earlier popular ones are Clipper, dBase and Access.
If you need to decide which tool to select for your database software keep in mind the following aspects:
a. Support and Upgrading of the tool is a must.
b. In-build database functions are essential to develop database software.
As a consequence of the potential, there are plenty of job opportunities in Database software market. With the advent of the internet, web based application development is also driving the job market.
We will, in this article, discuss database software development, which will give you an idea of how applications can be developed using VB and SQL Server.
A database software can be developed for domains like:
a. Accounting
b. Inventory
c. ERP
d. Healthcare
e. Manufacturing
f. HR
And many other domains. Whichever domain you choose, the basic principles and techniques remain the same.
We will see the typical structure of a database software:
We will also discuss the salient features of a good database application. The first requirement of a good database application is the from the developers perspective. The team, which is developing the application should have a good knowledge of the working of the domain. The developers should know all the various intricacies, practical issues, which are important for conducting business in a particular domain.
The next issue is the basic design of the software. The software should be based on Object Oriented Design. This design aspect, if applied to the user interface results in a minimum number of forms to be deployed for the entire applications. For instance, in an inventory application, a single form can be created, and using inheritance, all the other forms can be created at runtime. An object-oriented approach will go along way in ensuring the success project.
As we all know, many database software are deployed on a network. This is possible if the database application is developed for a client server network. An application with server side programming will turn out to be a good and reliable client server product.
The following issues and steps are common in developing a database software. They are listed below:
a. Client Server Issues
b. Stored Procedures
c. Developing the Standard Modules
d. Designing the database using SQL Server / any RDMBS
e. Transactions
f. Application Interface.
