In this document we will analyze the current situation of object-oriented databases (oodb) and we will see why a system as traditional as the relational one continues to be a strong card for many of the software and database developers.
Introduction
The knowledge that a system developer must have about the different programming paradigms must be necessary in such a way that it allows him to choose any of them, taking into account that many times said decision obeys the different needs of the system in question and the structured paradigm being one of the most used so far.
Currently, object-oriented programming has gained ground because it allows solving the problem from a conceptual approach to taking it to a model in which the elements that comprise it are fragmented and classified according to certain similar characteristics, thus allowing better system administration.. In the management and development of databases something different happens, relational databases (db), are still in force today and account for the highest percentage of sales in the market (relational database engines "dbms").
Development
" A database is a collection of data that can be organized so that its contents can be easily accessed, managed and updated." For any company, the actions mentioned in the previous text are of utmost importance, since currently all business information systems (I dare mention 95%) are based on this type of computational data model. “A relational database model is a set of relationships (often called tables). Each table in turn is a set of records, rows or tuples. And each of these is a set of fields, columns or attributes. " " In an object-oriented database, information is represented by objects like those present in object-oriented programming”
Therefore, when making use of any type of database, a database manager is required to be in charge of carrying out all the structural operations and updating the data. The number of dbms (database handler systems) compared to oodbms (object oriented database handler systems) is considerably higher, this could be one of the answers to why this type of architecture continues to be chosen. databases, some of these dbms are:
- Microsoft AccessMySqlSql ServerPostgreSqlOracle
In the specific case of MySql and PostreSql are free tools and therefore do not imply a license acquisition cost in any of them.
Now, an oodb requires database handlers that support this type of architecture, and as previously mentioned, these are less in number compared to dbms. Some of the few oodbms that exist are:
- Db4oInformixBdoviedo3
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the oodb still do not have that growth that at some point so many expectations generated.
A developer who has in his hands the possibility of carrying out a project for an organization and who takes into account that any company that deposits a large part of its economic and functional stability in a database model seeks to save time and costs with this, would opt In the first instance, for using a relational model, the reasons are diverse . What would happen if this bdd is developed under an object-oriented paradigm and does not have strong support from the company that provides any oodbms that has been chosen?What real benefits would a user have when operating a system made with oodb ?. The answers to these questions are inclined in the first instance to reject the use of oodb, however, one of the main advantages that object-oriented systems offer is a lower cost in the development of the project as well as “its flexibility, and support for handling complex data types in an agile and fast way ”.
Remember that any computer system is as powerful as the developer itself, therefore if the person in charge of the project has extensive knowledge about oodb, they should have no problem carrying it out under this paradigm, however, the information is still " somewhat scarce ”and even more so are the“ experts on the subject ”.
From the computer point of view, an object-oriented paradigm requires the use of a different logic when proposing a possible solution model; classes, inheritance, encapsulation, are just some of the basic concepts with which we will have to familiarize ourselves if we want to adopt this paradigm as our work tool, hoping that the results when developing, storing and retrieving data, among others, will be positive, at least that's how it is written in theory.
The relational model assumes "perhaps" as greater complexity, reaching an adequate form of normalization and establishing the correct relationships and cardinality that allow us to have an efficient operation in our bdd.
It should be mentioned that there is currently a standard for the management of relational databases, the SQL standard. This query language has come to give an even greater impact to this relational paradigm and has made this model the most used so far by almost all developers. Each dbms has its own version of SQL but the essence of the language is the same, and it continues to be a unique tool of its kind and still has a long life ahead of it.
Oodb are not far behind and a tool equivalent to SQL has recently been released, the OQL that "is not computationally complete, however, queries can invoke methods, and conversely methods written in any programming language can include consultations ”. With this language also come ODL and OML which are the languages for data definition and manipulation respectively, both equivalent to SQL DDL and DML.
conclusion
I believe that object-oriented bases have not yet matured enough to be a first solution alternative, however the advantages they offer are broad, and at some point perhaps not too far away they come to the fore in terms of base development data is concerned, however, relational data models are still a very good option, even improvements to this paradigm are thought to be in the future to reaffirm it as the most widely used database model.
www.linksys.com.mx/linksyswebsitepages/linksyscentroaprendizaje/glosario/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_Data_Base
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriented_Data_Base_to_objects
html.rincondelvago.com/base-de-datos-relacional.html
www.monografias.com/trabajos5/tipbases/tipbases.shtml#capIII321
