[DUG] The BDE API formerly known as the Paradox Engine

[Neven MacEwan]

Paul

You could probably say the same about ODBC ie trying to unify the access 
method to an RDB and an ISAM have some
fundamental issues, and how many bites has M$ had at this ADO and RDO 
and little lambs eat ivy....la la and they
still couldn't do it well. I've had a number of stoushes on this list 
with people who continue to spout that
"I use [insert your favoured ISAM here] is little projects but I use 
[Insert your favoured RDBMS here] for larger ones"
to which I'd say why bother with the ISAM (sometime not so tactfully) 
because there are quite a lot of posts that also start
"I'm porting a project from [insert your favoured ISAM here] to [Insert 
your favoured RDBMS here] and have a few issues....."

Neven

> Robert Martin wrote: 
>
>   
>> Moving from BDE to a relational database is a BIG step.  We 
>> use IBOjects which has BDE replacement components that is 
>> very good.  However you would have to leave paradox behind at 
>> that point.
>>
>> BDE SUCKS big time.  Although I was AMAZED to read that 
>> CodeGear is developing a BDE like replacement for a future 
>> Delphi !!!!!!  I was stunned.  Obviously enough people still 
>> use the BDE to make this an attraction.
>>     
>
> Just to play Devil's Advocate a bit, it's not that the underlying
> concept of the BDE is inherently a bad idea. Namely, navigational to
> relational mapping - it's not original to the BDE by any stretch - it's
> more that the BDE is SUCH a badly flawed implementation of the concept.
>
> It's obvious to me that BDE (or IDAPI if you remember it's previous
> incarnation) 'grew' out of the Paradox Engine API kit that Borland once
> sold - I know that since we one of the few companies who appear to have
> actually bought a copy!
>
> So IDAPI and the BDE are fundamentally crippled by underlying
> 'Paradox-isms' (such as Null is the same as Empty string) which have
> never been addressed and then ever more layers of code have been piled
> on top of these bad foundations in various attempts to fix earlier badly
> designed layers that can now never be removed. Cached Updates anyone?
>
> I pity any Codegear developer assigned to work on the BDE codebase. It
> probably violates the Geneva Convention for 'cruel and inhumane
> treatment equivalent to torture'. Mind you, Microsoft could probably get
> the DOJ (who seems to be their friend now) to argue that Codegear
> developers are patent-violating 'unlawful enemy combatants' so it's
> either GITMO or the BDE for them. 
>
> Good code is released, bad code just escapes!
>
> TTFN,
>   Paul.
>
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