Re: Application Design and PostgreSQL - Mailing list pgsql-general

> If i have all logic inside the database i dont need a middleware to
> prevent the data from getting corrupted via other tools.
>
> wouldnt it be fine to have all logic inside the database and i can
> use my object orientaded wrapper or a frontend like pgsql or
> something else. It seems to me that it would make more sense if all
> logic is inside the databse because i can prevent my data from being
> corrupted.
>
> AND: What happens if i change a type from int2 to int4 inside the
> databse. i still have to maintain the middleware. So i always have to
> keep two things up to date. There will always be some logic inside
> the database at least something like types.
>
> Is your opinion to put mostly every business logic inside the
> middleware just because the object orientated approach inside
> databases isnt standarized yet?

Middleware is good!

By using a database as a fancy "filing cabinet," and implementing the
logic in the middleware applications that feed the DB all the SQL
commands and format the results returned by the database, you've not
only reduced your dependence on one vendor, but you've enabled your
company to increase the scale of its operations in a more agile manner.

A personal example:

My first database driven website used MS Access as the database and
ColdFusion as the middleware product. Everything was fine until visitors
started accessing the site. ;) Shortly thereafter, I switched from using
MS Access to MS SQL server. All I had to do was dump the data from
Access & import the data into MS SQL server. I didn't need to modify my
application to access the more powerful database. Six months after the
MS SQL server database couldn't handle the load, I migrated from the MS
SQL server database to Oracle, and again didn't have to change any of my
middleware code. Five months after our budget cuts, I dumped the
outrageous Oracle support fees, and moved the database over to
PostgreSQL, and migrated the ColdFusion  middleware applications over to
an open source solution [Linux, mod_perl, DBI and Apache::DBI] with just
a little bit of effort.

The open source solution has been in use for three years, and has proven
to be far more reliable, robust, FLEXIBLE, and AGILE than any of the far
more costly, closed source solutions I had previously implemented at
Prudential and Merrill Lynch.

Had it not been for the middleware layer, I would never have been able
to make the transitions that were required to enable our clients to
flourish.

Bye!