What's the Best Open Source DB for use with Kodo?

Question

Hi everyone,
In terms of ease of setup and use, tools to view info in the database, and least difficulty in
running with Kodo, what is the best open source database to use? I'm use to using Oracle and
SQLPlus. I need to use an open source DB for a learning environment, and I'd like your informed
opinion.
Thanks,
David Ezzio

Answer 1

I have been using postgresql 7.1 with Kodo for a while with mostly positive results, and currently
have it deployed with Kodo 2.2.3. I prefer it to mysql because its feature set is a little richer,
and supports transactions natively. My experience with mysql (without jdo - I haven't tried it with)
is good, but there were little things missing in mysql 3.x, e.g. the ability do do a join in a
DELETE statement.
BTW, there are some severe problems somewhere in the 2.2.4 release with postgresql if you intend to
eventually deploy on it. It also apparently has some problems invoking postgresql's indices, making
it a little less than optimal. But as a learning environment, it's what I'd recommend.
-Mike
Marc Prud'hommeaux wrote:
David-
Here is the rundown of the databases I have experience with:
MySQL: Fairly simple to install (especially if you run Debian Linux), but
configuration, especially adding users, can be a pain. A separate open
source project called "mysql-navigator" makes it fairly easy to do
simple queries, inserts, etc. In most of my tests it outperforms
PostgreSQL, but your mileage will vary. It has a sane CLI that supports
modern features like line history, etc (unlike the horrific SQLPlus).
PostgreSQL: People often say that it is a more "academically
correct" database than MySQL. I've also found it to be quite a bit
easier to set up. Their GUI (called "pgaccess") is simplistic, but does
most things you need. Has a CLI similiar to MySQL's.
HypersonicSQL: By far the easiest to set up (just drop the jar in your
CLASSPATH), but is java only, can be rather slow, and has no GUI tools
available that I know of (except various free vanilla-JDBC GUI tools).
We feel that Kodo works quite well with all these DBs. The MySQL JDBC
driver seems a bit less buggy than Postgres', but their transaction
support is very recent and not very well tested. If I had to pick one or
the other, I would probably go with MySQL.
David Ezzio <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi everyone,
In terms of ease of setup and use, tools to view info in the database, and least difficulty in
running with Kodo, what is the best open source database to use? I'm use to using Oracle and
SQLPlus. I need to use an open source DB for a learning environment, and I'd like your informed
opinion.
Thanks,
David Ezzio--
Marc Prud'hommeaux [email protected]
SolarMetric Inc. http://www.solarmetric.com
Kodo Java Data Objects Full featured JDO: eliminate the SQL from your code--
Mike Bridge