Why Are Databases So Complicated
ComputerStuff
I am sure that anyone else who has used a database to fulfill some need has appreciated apps like Filemaker as much as I did. It was easy - you created a database, a basic layout was automatically created for you, and you could customize the forms however you wanted and it pretty much just worked.
And as much as I am generally a support of Apple, I don’t want to get tied into Filemaker when there are open source database programs out there, such as MySQL.
What I don’t understand, however, is why there is not a quick way to generate simple apps using MySQL (or your database of choice), similar to the approach used by Filemaker. Am I missing something?
Which leads to me think more about an XmlSchema. By using a schema to design your object model, you can build in all sorts of rules about what data constitutes a valid object. In theory, this means you should not have to program that logic into your application. The schema alone should be enough for all of the validation rules and object relationships to be understood by your application. You can then focus on the user interface, paying minimal attention to the object model behind the interface. For many data oriented projects, this might be enough.
I am hoping that Apple’s Core Data will do just this. I know it will allow you to easily save your data to an XML file, or a binary file, or a SQLite database, but they also mention “schema” and “validate.” I’m hoping that all of this combines with XML to mean XML Schemas. If so, this could really open up the Mac as a development platform. Start throwing in all of the other Cocoa bindings and controllers, etc that you can already use, and creating applications in Cocoa could become ridiculously easy. Which is just what needs to happen.
Follow me on twitter
Subscribe to atom feed