[thelist] hsql

[Ken Schaefer]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org [mailto:thelist-
: bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of dwain at alforddesigngroup.com
: Subject: Re: [thelist] hsql
: 
: Ken Schaefer wrote:
: 
: > I'm not sure why you think it's a "rendering engine", 
: > because it's not. I don't see how it could be better 
: > or worse than any other rendering engine, because you 
: > can't compare the two. If you meant a "database engine",
: > then I doubt it would provide anything above or beyond 
: > what a traditional RDBMS provides in the database space. 
: > Certainly, I feel it would be difficult to
: > build anything that will scale using XML as a storage format.
: 
: rendering engine was used for lack of a better term. as i move in the
: direction of web development i find that database knowledge is something
: that i need to acquire.  please bear with me and my sub-novice
: questions.  will you elaborate some on the disadvantages of xml as a
: storage format and ... what does scaling mean?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scale/scalability refers to the ability of a system to continue to function
within acceptable parameters (e.g. meeting response times, handling
concurrent requests) as the load on that system increases. Most database
systems can handle low loads, or just a single user (i.e. no concurrency).
However high end database systems need to handle many hundreds or thousands
of concurrent requests, yet avoid deadlock situations (where one transaction
is waiting on another transaction and visa versa), avoid corruption in the
data store, and still perform acceptably in terms of response times. If you
look into databases, you'll see that there are certain generic concepts, such
as indexing, data partitioning, normalisation/denormalisation etc that can be
used across all DBMSes to ensure that performance targets are met. Beyond
that, things tend to be DBMS specific. However all enterprise DBMSes use
proprietary binary formats to store data which allow for the DBMS to most
effectively retrieve and update information (for example by aligning the size
of data pages on disk with memory buffers in the system, physically ordering
records or indexes in a particular order etc)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: thanks for your reply.  i hope to learn more about databases in the
: coming months.  books to read?  tutorials to work?  programs to look at?
:   please share your thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have no doubt there are some very good introductory books/websites out
there. Unfortunately, I don't have any handy. You can learn as much or as
little as you want about databases. It's a big topic, so you probably need to
set some kind of limit on what you want to learn. I found this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201708574/
to be a pretty good "all in one volume". It covers ER
(entity-relationship)/EER modelling, normalisation, a bit of SQL,
transactions, RDBMS, OODBMS etc - so a lot of topics. Unfortunately, it is
also quite dry, and does cover topics to a reasonable level of detail, so
it's not something you'd want to buy if you just want an introduction. Nor is
it a specialised SQL book, if that's what you are looking for. As you can see
from the reviews, a number of people are not happy with it because it doesn't
meet their expectations, or they think they can handle databases without any
knowledge of "math, science or computer knowledge" (per one reviewer), yet
they are failing their graduate classes (obviously that is the book's fault).

Cheers
Ken

--
www.adOpenStatic.com/cs/blogs/ken/ 


: thanks for your reply.  i hope to learn more about databases in the
: coming months.  books to read?  tutorials to work?  programs to look at?
:   please share your thoughts.
: 
: dwain
: 
: 
: --
: Dwain Alford
: http://www.alforddesigngroup.com
: 
: web hosting: http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=7653741
: 
: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=affiliates&id=0&t=1/
: 
: "The artist may use any form which his expression demands;
: for his inner impulse must find suitable expression."
: Wassily Kandinsky, "Concerning The Spiritual In Art"
: 
: 
: ---
: avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
: Virus Database (VPS): 0518-1, 05/02/2005
: Tested on: 5/4/2005 1:47:19 AM
: avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
: http://www.avast.com
: 
: 
: 
: --
: 
: * * Please support the community that supports you.  * *
: http://evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
: 
: For unsubscribe and other options, including the Tip Harvester
: and archives of thelist go to: http://lists.evolt.org
: Workers of the Web, evolt !