Java, JDBC, Stored Procedures, And Server-mania
By Ken North
The development landscape is changing. The defining characteristics of Web database development include HTML pages, database content, and a client-server architecture. Developers creating Web pages backed by databases will continue to share those characteristics, but the tools and technologies they use are becoming more diverse. Many developers are looking to server programming and new technologies as alternatives to Java applets and ActiveX controls, particularly for applications with low-bandwidth connections. The Java-versus-ActiveX debate is fading as we learn more about dynamic HTML, servlets, XML, server programming tools, and new component models. Because of universal database servers, the next "great debate" is more likely to be whether Web pages should be managed as files by the operating system, or as database content by a DBMS. Reducing or eliminating downloadable components will create thinner clients and use more tiers of servers, but solutions such as Java and database logic won't go away. Later in this article we'll look at a combination of stored procedures, Java, and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). First, we'll review some of the alternatives for getting at databases from Web pages.
When the Web first became the center of the software- development universe, there was a flood of APIs, technologies, and products for marrying databases and Web pages. That diversity means you can choose an architecture and tools to suit your needs.
