Zachmann.NET
Better Late Than Never!
SQL Server 2008 is now better than ever.
Following a five-year gap between the releases of SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005, Microsoft promised to shorten the major upgrade cycle for the company's flagship database product. The stated aim was to produce a new version approximately every two years. Development delays for SQL Server 2008 pushed that out closer to three years, and a few intended bits and pieces will take even longer. Still, three years is a big improvement. And there's no denying that SQL Server 2008 is now better than ever.
Pressed at a recent briefing to say which of the many improvements and enhancements in the new version are most important, at least from Microsoft's point of view, Ted Kummert, the company's corporate VP, said in a word: "scale." He specifically identified scaling storage, performance and end-user concurrency as key improvements in SQL Server 2008, which takes aim at very high-end data warehousing (DW) and business intelligence (BI) apps. Improved data compression in SQL Server 2008 is a big help here on all three counts.
Alleged deficiencies in scalability and performance have long been a rap against SQL Server relative to products from competitors. Many industry analysts, though in steadily diminishing numbers, have historically claimed that SQL Server is not as good a choice for DW/BI apps as competitive products like Oracle 11g or IBM DB2. Microsoft has been chipping away at those claims, but many IBM and Sun shops still believe that SQL Server is not quite up to the task for large, high-performance, high-use apps. SQL Server 2008 will go a long way toward correcting that misapprehension.
Kummert also highlighted inclusion of sophisticated, policy-based management and improved security through transparent data encryption as key innovations in SQL Server 2008, offering practical utility for a large number of user organizations. SQL Server 2008's Policy Management feature makes it possible to easily create and use configuration policies against multiple servers. Its Extensible Key Management and Transparent Data Encryption provide a means to easily and securely encrypt an entire database. This has obvious benefits for apps subject to regulatory requirements for security, privacy and confidentiality.
Developer Perspective
For developers, SQL Server 2008 offers quite a bit more than scalability, compression, policies and encryption. Language Integrated Query (LINQ) to SQL offers speedier and easier development than traditional T-SQL. The new MERGE statement and improved Date and Time types will also be useful for many developers.
One of the most interesting new sets of application possibilities, however, comes with the new Geometry and Geography data types for handling spatial data. The Geometry data type offers facilities to handle geospatial data projected onto a flat plane, while Geography supports a full "round earth" model. This opens the door to all sorts of mapping and geospatial analysis apps that can now be supported internally by SQL Server with native data types and functions. These features will appeal immediately to specialized GIS app development, but there's considerable potential for sophisticated business analysis and BI applications as well.
Perhaps the most exciting and innovative aspect of SQL Server 2008 for sophisticated developers is to be found in LINQ to Entities and ADO.NET Entity Framework (EF), which makes the conceptual schema of a database programmatically accessible. EF, in effect, makes it possible to query against the conceptual model of the database, rendering explicit joins unnecessary. It amounts to the first real object-relational mapping capability from Microsoft.
Competitive Savvy
Microsoft continues to make gains against enterprise-worthy competitors, but some interesting possibilities beckon for large numbers of developers working at the lower end of the SQL Server 2008 spectrum. The 2008 versions of SQL Server Compact Edition for handheld and mobile devices and SQL Server Express Edition will attract a lot of activity, from enterprise-class dev shops and smaller outfits alike.
SQL Server 2008 Express Edition -- though limited to one processor, 1GB of memory and 4GB database files -- has the undeniable advantage of being free. It brings many of the features and benefits of SQL Server 2008, including the new spatial data types, .NET language integration, LINQ and ADO.NET EF (SP1) to anyone who wants it. It's a superb learning tool for any developer, as well as a great platform upon which to build individual applications.
SQL Server 2008 may not yet completely silence Microsoft's database critics and detractors, but it will certainly further muffle their already fading cries and protests. Meanwhile, the rest of us will get it, learn it and start to use it.
About the Author
William F. Zachmann, born before the modern digital computer was invented, has lived with them (and made his living off of them) all his life. He was director of research for The Forum Corp. in the mid-'70s and senior vice president of corporate research at International Data Corp. (IDC) in the '80s. He has a copy of Windows 1.0 that Bill Gates signed for him the night it was rolled out at Comdex Fall '85. Zachmann is now director of Canopus Research Inc. He programs in C# using Visual Studio 2005 with a focus on ASP.NET and SQL Server 2005.