|
|
AS OF 7/4/2008 8:25PM EST
|
Cach? 2007: Nothing if Not Persistent
Database eliminates O/R mapping, enables RAD Web application development
By David Rubinstein
November 1, 2006 —
Map no more.
That’s the message from InterSystems, which is expected to announce on Nov. 6 an update to its Cach? 2007 database with a component that eliminates the need for object-relational mapping in Java applications, as well as with an AJAX-based framework for the rapid development of Web applications.
The component, called Jalape?o (for Java Language Persistence with No mapping), is an object manager that allows Java developers to define Plain Old Java Classes and mark them as persistent using the Schema Builder utility provided; then Cach? automatically creates database representations for those classes without mapping, according to InterSystems vice president for strategic planning Paul Grabscheid.
“Java developers live in a Java object world, but must work with relational databases. Most people use automatic object-relational mapping such as Hibernate, or EJBs, but that’s still not effective,” Grabscheid said. “Our aim was to eliminate that [mapping] step.”
Persisting Java objects both reduces development time, because creating mappings to relational databases is no longer required, and improves performance, because the objects don’t have to be broken down or reassembled each time they are stored or retrieved, according to an InterSystems white paper on the topic.
Cach? is built upon a Unified Data Architecture that also allows data to be exposed as relational tables when necessary, Grabscheid said. He noted that Jalape?o can store data in any JDBC-compliant database, although the solution is optimized for Cach?. The database connection can be shared by both Jalape?o’s object persistence methods and SQL queries, without the need for mapping.
Dana Gardner, principal analyst at Gilford, N.H.-based research company Interarbor Solutions, said of Jalape?o: “I’m not sure it’ll change the industry per se, but it extends [InterSystems’] value in existing accounts. [Cach? 2007] automates some previously tedious steps and does it for two different classes of developer”—Java and Web developers. A competing company, Versant, sells an object-oriented database that eliminates mapping to relational tables, but it does not have the RAD development component.
The development framework, called Zen, is injected as a layer between the relational database and the application that requires the data, and is accessible by scripting tools. “They can create views of the data in XML, JavaScript and AJAX without having to do the heavy lifting in Java development,” Gardner said.
The Cach? solution involves describing Web pages through XML, which is compiled for high performance when the page is called at runtime, Grabscheid said. Dozens of prebuilt components can be inherited so that a certain look-and-feel can be carried over from page to page. Security is provided via tags that specify access control.
|