Re: Not using SQL. What am I missing?

[Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>     As I stated before, we are coding exclusively in RPG (Myself in
> RPGILE, our other programmer mostly RPG/400) and have never used SQL.
> What are we missing out on? Are there APIs only available to SQL? Great
> data manipulation? Is it worth learning and how do we go about it?

SQL is arguably one of the most powerful tools available for database
manipulation.  As the syntax continues to mature, SQL can do in one line
what it might take literally hundreds of lines of any HLL such as RPG or
COBOL.

SQL's query capabilities are unparalleled, and its English-like syntax
makes it easy to create ad hoc queries based on changing user
requirements.  SQL's set-based paradigm also makes it an excellent utility
tool for mass database changes.

Finally, SQL is, to a degree, platform independent.  A reasonable
percentage of SQL syntax will perform identically on different platforms.

SQL has, however, a "dark side", at least in my opinion.  First and
foremost is that SQL (in the form of ODBC) is often used on clients to
access host data.  This is unacceptable in my view, because it means your
clients need intimate knowledge of your database layout, and you cannot
change the database without modifying the code for every client.  Also,
it's more difficult to determine which programs actually access a given
file when arbitrary SQL access is allowed.

Also, SQL does not perform as well in many business applications,
especially those requiring the sort of heavy conditional database access
we tend to use in business logic.

However, given those caveats, SQL is an important tool to have in your
development toolbox.  Used responsibly (which in my mind is encapsulated
within server programs on the same machine as the accessed database), SQL
can greatly extend the functionality of your applications, adding major
flexibility for relatively minor effort.

Joe