No SQL - what is Softengines up to

Softengines is currently involved in a project to create a standalone database that needs to be easily installed, and then - needless to say - easily used by non specialist users. The result is a "No SQL" application. The reasoning being, the "back end" of many traditional relational databases implies additional software which in turn implies additional cost and complexity, as well as those horrid SQL (stands for, structured query language) statements, Hence NO SQL. Relational databases rely on stringing together data in different tables, changing and adding too these tables is a time consuming nuisance.

The approach is a Java program, for an easy download and a graphical interface to the underlying code, which reads and writes directly to XML documents. These documents stand on their own and are easily transferred between applications and machines. A database like this could also be regarded as what is known as a "Graph" database. These are based on Graph theory which is about tree-like structures which are better for complex, object orientated data models and are easier to add too than traditional alternatives.

So far all operations happen in the blink of an eye and have to be clocked in milliseconds, making only the tiniest dint on processor capacity.

We will be soon on the lookout for guinea pigs for beta testing.



10 November 2011 Open Source and 'Agile' methods gaining political support 05 September 2011

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