RE: Database Maintenance Models

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Nathan Andelin
> 
> It impressed me that Paul Holm was able to deploy several database
inquiry
> and maintenance screens in a matter of hours using his framework.

I guess I'm less impressed because I know that the perceived amount of
effort is hugely skewed by the framework in place behind it.  Whenever
you promote a framework, you are in effect saying "If you invest X
dollars up front for the framework, then it will lonely cost you Y
dollars to create applications that fit the framework".


> A Position To box, offers a binary search of the selected records,
> according
> to the Order By clause.  The label of the textbox changes when the
user
> changes the sort order.  The Position To operation doesn't perform
another
> query, it just positions to a row in the current record set.

See, you're already narrowing down the look and feel to your specific UI
requirements.  In many places, a Position To box might need multiple
fields.  Others might want to be able to use wildcards.  In your
situation, how much extra work would it be to add that feature?

Similarly, if there was a requirement that was outside of Paul's
framework, how much extra work would it be to add that to his code?  It
would certainly expand the time required beyond the hour he spent on the
ones that fit the framework.


So what we're really talking about here is the total cost of ownership
of using a framework, which has to include the initial cost of the
software amortized over the entire development cycle.  That, however, is
beyond the charter of this list, especially since you and Paul are both
talking about commercial products.  Paul made this clear when he
insisted that he wrote no code for those last examples.  JAVA400-L is a
programming list, not a product showcase.  That being the case, I'd like
to refrain from further discussion comparing the features of WOW and
Relational Web, especially showing screen shots of code generated by
those tools, here on the JAVA400-L list.


However, if you and Paul would like to discuss the general ramification
of frameworks as an application architecture solution, I think the new
IAAI website would be a perfectly appropriate place for that.


Joe