Top 10 Progress database facts required.

Cecil

19+ years progress programming and still learning.
Hi all,

I have joined a 'Meetup' group who interest revolves around databases. Since this will be my first meeting the host has asked if I can do a quick 5~10 minute informal presentation about the Progress and it's database. He suggested doing a top 10 facts about progress.

So I am asking what are your top 10 facts about the progress database??

Also I get free pizza if I do speak.
 

TomBascom

Curmudgeon
Progress had row level locking on day 1 back in 1984. Oracle finally got it in Oracle 6. Sybase (SQL Server) picked it up a few years later but struggled for ages to get it right. They still might be struggling...

Progress is not SQL! Thank goodness!

Progress does, however, support SQL.

Progress transactions are automatically started and committed. Or you can control them to a very fine degree with code.

Progress is case insensitive. You have to go out of your way to create case sensitive data.

Progress has always had varchar and doesn't waste people's time and energy with silly length restrictions on data.

*All* Progress datatypes are variable length. Including logical (Boolean).

Many Progress systems run for years with no DBA.

Progress crash recovery is safe and reliable -- go ahead, pull the plug!

The Progress Engineering team will happily talk to customers. Especially if there are no "product managers" or sales weasels around.
 

Cecil

19+ years progress programming and still learning.
Thanks Tom. That's given me a good start and possible quite debatable amongst the other DBA guys.

The Progress Engineering team will happily talk to customers. Especially if there are no "product
managers" or sales weasels around.
Like!
 

Rob Fitzpatrick

ProgressTalk.com Sponsor
The language and database share a common set of data types, so there is no need to cast from one to another when writing data-layer code.
It works very well as an embedded database, allowing for rapid application prototyping and development with not much code.
It has supported federated databases (multiple DBs per client) for years.
It supports auditing, multi-tenancy, and object-level data encryption natively in the platform so you don't have to roll your own solution for those tasks.
It is easy to use, easy to maintain, and overall has low cost of ownership.
It is extremely reliable.
It doesn't force you to use a GUI. :)
It works very well for OLTP.
It's multi-platform.
It's orange. :p
 

RealHeavyDude

Well-Known Member
It does get the job done without creating a big buzz about it.

In some 20+ years I have never lost any data on a production database. Even when I was an IT roukie back then at the beginning of the '90s ( good ole V6 days ) when somebody told me that there was a VAX station and he believed that there was the database located on it holding the manufacturing and control data for a big heat treatment plant. He then asked me if could have a look and make things better because the application ( using the HLI C interface ) had some issues - it lacked any transaction logic.

Even though, some might think this ( not creaeting a big buzz about it ) might be a weakness.


Heavy Regards, RealHeavyDude.
 

Cringer

ProgressTalk.com Moderator
Staff member
The code, particularly queries is pretty good on the human-readable front.
 

Cecil

19+ years progress programming and still learning.
The meetup group is not until the 21st October. So I got some time up my sleeve to prepare and also without sounding like a sales person.

One of my favorite conversations is with other non-Progress Developers or DBAs who have never heard of Progress Software and it normally goes along the lines bit like this:

Me: "Oh. I develop applications using OpenEdge from Progress Software."
Oracle Fanboy: "Postgres! Yeah I've done some work using the ProgreSQL database."
Me: "Not PostgreSQL.... Progress."
Oracle Fanboy: "Never heard of them! Are they a new company?"
Me: "They have been around since the mid 80's."
Oracle Fanboy: "Oh... So it's an old UNIX database system."
Me: "Not quite.. It's an enterprise database for both UNIX, LINUX and Windows with it's own native programming language call ABL. It's was once know as 4GL for quite awhile."
Oracle Fanboy: "Hey, 4GL, I've heard about that. Isn't THAT really old technology? Nobody uses that any more."
Me:
(Pause: 4)
"Have you ever heard of Data Direct ODBC Driver?"
Oracle Fanboy: "Oh yeah! We use that all the time for our applications."
Me: "Congratulations! You are a Progress Software customer."
 

GregTomkins

Active Member
Well, you said 'database' specifically, but IMO that misses the point. Progress as a database is pretty uninteresting*.

IMO what's interesting (and fairly unique) about Progress is that the language is 'schema aware', which means you can dispense with all that ORM nonsense that (for business applications) drags down the Javas and C#'s of the world. Also, temp-tables. These two features are (at least for business applications) enough to make up for all the not-so-great things.

I have no facts to back this up, but I suspect there are virtually zero applications using a Progress-the-DB without Progress-the-language playing a critical (albeit, probably not exclusive) role. Why would anyone do that when there are multiple, capable, free databases available?

* Though I absolutely agree with TomB that 'Progress has always had varchar and doesn't waste people's time and energy with silly length restrictions on data.' Why 99% of the world thinks this is a good way to spend their time is beyond me.
 
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