Java™ Application Development on Linux - Dator

318Chapter 14Storing the Data14.5.3 OracleWhat can we say? In the world of databases, this is the top dog. This is thestandard against which other database systems are measured. Oracle is the DBthat runs the “big applications” out there in the enterprise world. It is also acostly piece of software when it is used for production applications. It is, however,available for free download to use for development. It is emphatically notFree Software. You don’t have the source code. You don’t have the right tomodify it, and you don’t have the right to pass it on to third parties. That mayor may not be an issue for you.If you need advanced features like high-availability clustering, it is certainthat Oracle will work for you. You may download it for evaluation anddevelopment from Oracle’s OTN (Oracle Technology Network) 2 Web site.14.5.4 Selection CriteriaFor the simple application we are developing, all of these databases are sufficient.But in the real world, there could be many factors that might come tobear upon your selection of a database server product. These factors mightinclude:• Price• License terms• Transaction capacity (speed)• Integration (does it work with or depend on other software you use?)• Human resources (do you have operators and developers familiar with theproduct on your staff, or are they available for hire?)• Presence (does your organization already use this product?)• Features (do you have future plans that might require a particularproduct?)14.6BEING SELF-CONTAINEDOne of the common difficulties with software that requires a database is howto get the database structures up and running. Database storage is often not in2. http://otn.oracle.com/software/products/oracle9i/htdocs/othersoft.html