Al said:
Can some one points me to a source or article that talks about the
advantage and disadvantage of using MS Access as opposed to Visual
Basic, Sql Server and so on(sort of comparison). and how a company
should decide on which software to use based on their needs.
thanks
Al
Well you need to start with a basic understanding of what you are talking about.
Visual Basic is an application development tool (no database)
SQL Server is a database engine (no application development)
Access is an application development tool specialized for building database
applications that also comes intertwined with a file-based database (Jet) and
(important) can also be used to develop database applications that use just
about any other database engine (like SQL Server) as the data repository.
So Access versus Visual Basic raises the question (what database?).
Access versus SQL Server is a non-question because one can use Access AND SQL
Server. That is in fact a very popular and successful combination. SQL Server
versus Jet is a legitimate question, but that raises the question (what to use
for the interface application?).
Most people in these groups would say that SQL Server has many advantages for
people who need an enterprise level database engine, and also comes with
associated extra costs to deliver those advantages. Jet on the other hand has
many advantages for those who do NOT need an enterprise level database engine.
Also, Access has many advantages for building database applications over Visual
Basic because it is specifically geared to that task whereas Visual Basic is a
more generic application building tool.
So, this is a lot like "Should I buy this car or that diesel engine or that
chasis?" The car is the only one that does anything useful on its own. That of
course might not apply to someone that needs to haul 8000 pounds of freight.
Microsoft does have a white paper on their site that talks about "when do I need
SQL Server?". My personal opinion is that in a corporate environment where you
have one or more individuals whose job is to set up and maintain servers and
networking infrastructure that there is never a reason NOT to use SQL Server.
It's just more robust, secure, etc., and not really that much work for a person
already supporting a mid-sized or larger network. For a small business though
with a workgroup style network, SQL Server's setup, maintenance, and the
know-how required for same might not be justifiable.
VB versus Access for application development (when starting from an even playing
field) is a no-brainer. VB would take much longer and be much more expensive to
develop the same app as could be done in Access. If someone mentions dot-net
the same applies only dot-net would be even longer and more expensive than VB.
However; if an organization already has someone who is well-versed in either VB
or dot-net then that might be a better choice than either acquiring someone who
knows Access or telling an in-house person to learn Access just for this
purpose.
