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Re: plsql vs. perl vs. neither and API's (code)

by aquacade (Scribe)
on Jul 28, 2001 at 07:39 UTC ( [id://100515]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to plsql vs. perl vs. neither and API's (code)

Don't be ashamed to be PERL PROUD brother dep! I think people trust you more when you stick to what YOU are truly passionate about.

Depending upon the Oracle version you might buy (hopefully 8i v8.1.7 or later I suggest) it comes with the Oracle Express Engine (I'm told, it's a kind of "OLAP cube engine" for their OFA (Oracle Financial Analyzer) tool, which you still have to buy separately (of course, that's Oracle for ya!). Also Oracle 8i Discoverer has tools to create management reports.

PL/SQL scripts or stored procedures are like going back to "dBASE for DOS" to me. They work but aren't very elegant or interesting.

I think you can confidently put your Monk's hood down and hold your head up high! Your management can more easily hire another Perl programmer than find an OLAP expert for whatever flavor be it Cognos, BusinessObjects, Hyperion, or AlphaBlox. Unfortunately for us Perl programmers, probably cheaper too!

I agree with another Monk who commented (sorry no reference) that nothing is faster than MySQL for very large databases. The DBI connection to MySQL isn't perfect, but damn near and better than any other (my opinion, no slight intended to other module authors). It doesn't have views, but you can "simulate" them with temporary tables cause it's so damn fast.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
(pmas) Re: plsql vs. perl vs. neither and API's (code)
by pmas (Hermit) on Jul 28, 2001 at 08:38 UTC
    Using DBI you have access to full SQL dialect of your database engine, and flexibility of perl. Don't do object if they will slow processing down, you do not have to. I suggest then to take plain old shared libraries to access database.
    Try solve 80% cases of data access in your shared code, and for 20% high performance use custom SQL. I guess Knuth said that root of all software evil is optimalization too soon -- so don't do that if you are strong enough to resist...
    I know it's hard not to optimize - because it is more fun, I am struggling with it too... ;)
    About MySQL: there are many threads all over Net that MySQL can be faster because does not have support for transaction. From your description I am guessing you need trasaction? For this many rows, ORACLE will be safer bet, IMHO.
    I am working on such an API right now, but sorry it is not ready yet...:(

    pmas
    To make errors is human. But to make million errors per second, you need a computer.

Re (tilly) 2: plsql vs. perl vs. neither and API's (code)
by tilly (Archbishop) on Jul 30, 2001 at 05:45 UTC
    MySQL is very fast..as long as you don't need the features left out to make it fast, and as long as the amount of data you are dealing with at once does not exceed RAM limits. See DBI + 'SELECT *' - Memory Use Galore? for more on the latter issue and, of course, Why not MySQL for more on the former.

    Use the best tool for the job. MySQL is a great tool for some purposes. But it has limits and if you are going to advocate it, you should know what those limits currently are.

      Thankfully, I've never had this problem because all my Windows workstation have at least 384MB of RAM and my tables in MySQL are all under 3M rows thus far. Please keep making comments and connections like this tilly for us all! The thread you mention is VERY valuable to me. I haven't had time (as yet) to search and read the entire corpora of Perl Monks knowledge. I'm still sloshing through current stuff trying to be more helpful than harmful. Thankfully Monks like you are there to balance my experiences with your Wisdom!

      ..:::::: aquacade ::::::..

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