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Design Decomposition Blog
Iridium Satellite Collision in Space
You might have seen the recent news reports about the collision between U.S. and Russian communication satellites. The U.S. satellite was one of the Iridium satellites. What wasn’t reported and you probably don’t know is that an object database management system (ODBMS) is an important part of the Iridium system. Even though ODBMSs are a [...]
February 13, 2009
(The Acronym) SOA is (Perhaps) Dead (at Some Companies); Long Live Services
I am now also posting on the Cutter Blog. My initial posting is (The Acronym) SOA is (Perhaps) Dead (at Some Companies); Long Live Services. It is a response to Anne Thomas Manes’ SOA is Dead; Long Live Services on her blog at the Burton Group.
January 9, 2009
Atomicity
The typical definition of an atomic task or process is one that cannot be decomposed further. This is vague and subject to interpretation. The Decomposition Matrix on this site uses a specific definition: A task (for business process diagrams) or a process (for data flow diagrams) is atomic if every input relates to every output [...]
December 3, 2008
Well-Formed Business Process Diagrams
My last posting referenced the criteria for a well-formed business process diagram mentioned in Business Process Driven SOA using BPMN and BPEL by Matjaz B. Juric and Kapil Pant. I am going to expand on their criteria to create a more comprehensive definition of a well-formed business process diagram. To start, here are three criteria from [...]
November 18, 2008
Recent Business Process Modeling Books
I recently received two new books on business process modeling. Both books looked interesting because they had great titles. As it turns out, one book is great and the other not so good. The not so good book is Business Process Driven SOA using BPMN and BPEL by Matjaz B. Juric and Kapil Pant. There are [...]
October 9, 2008
The Design Decomposition Blog
is written by Doug Barry.

The myth that ODBMSs have a steep learning curve is easily dispelled. Using an ODBMS primarily involves knowing an object programming language. For examples, see transparent persistence (new window).

If you know Java or C++, there is very little additional syntax that you need to learn in order to use an ODBMS. There are additional database commands for opening and closing databases along with starting and committing transactions. But that is about all -- hardly a steep learning curve. If you do not know Java or C++, there is learning involved. That learning, however, involves mastering the programming language and not the ODBMS.

If you have never used an RDBMS or an ODBMS, you will need to understand basic concepts about transactions and units of work. This learning will be needed regardless of whether you are using and ODBMS or an RDBMS. See the DBMS ACID properties (new window).

One could argue that the learning curve is much higher for SQL-based interfaces (SQL-92, JDBC, SQLJ, SQL:1999) than for transparent persistence interfaces (ODMG 3.0 and JDO). This could be based simply on the length of the texts needed to explain each interface. See the listing of reference texts (new window). Note the differences in page counts.

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