Inside Oracle 40
By Graham Keitch
One of Oracle’s strengths is its portability. Graham Keitch looks at developing applications for Oracle in a multi-platform environment.
HardCopy Issue: 40 | Found In: Database | Published: 01/05/2008 | Last Revision: 14/04/2010
Some recent surveys suggest that roughly half of UK businesses have or are about to implement a Service Orientated Architecture (SOA). For in-house developers and ISVs this can mean working with a mixed database platform, typically involving Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle has a broad product set that caters for SOA and multi-platform implementations at all levels. The company’s portfolio has expanded considerably in recent years with the acquisition of numerous companies that provide software to fit the SOA jigsaw.
Database development
It was a priority for Oracle from the outset to ensure that its flagship database would be truly portable. Today, Oracle Database 11g runs on various flavours of Unix, Linux and Windows. This multi-platform capability is matched by a comprehensive set of applications, middleware products and tools that fall under the generic banner of Oracle Fusion Middleware. These tools allow you to develop applications across a broad technology spectrum including .NET, J2EE, PL/SQL, PHP, Ruby and others. For Windows developers, Oracle provides full support for .NET development. Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio (ODT) allows developers to work with Oracle from within Microsoft Visual Studio. ODT can be downloaded for free, as can Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) which allows you to connect to the Oracle database.
JDeveloper is part of Oracle Developer Suite and offers a feature-rich IDE for J2EE that is tightly integrated with other components of the Suite. These include the Business Process Manager and other SOA-orientated technologies. In addition to the developer tools, the middleware stack consists of Oracle Application Server and a host of complimentary products such as business intelligence and process and content management tools that will help you create and orchestrate services.
There is also a portfolio that consists mostly of packaged software such as E-Business Suite and products from PeopleSoft, Siebel, JD Edwards and others. These can be integrated with bespoke applications and services in an SOA environment.
Interoperability
The ISV Resource Centre at www.oracleisv.com is a joint project from Grey Matter and Oracle to assist the ISV community.
SOA requires that disparate applications and services be able to communicate and interoperate, regardless of platform. Oracle provides a number of solutions to facilitate this. The Oracle SOA Suite is a collection of components for development, integration and process orchestration. JDeveloper is part of the Suite and tightly couples with other SOA components such as the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Process Manager, Oracle Enterprise Service Bus, Web Services Manager and an array of connectivity adapters.
Both Oracle Data Adapter and Applications Adapter are part of Oracle Application Server and provide connectivity to a wide range of sources. These two technologies reduce the complexity of data extraction and translation at the application interface, making it easier to develop systems for a heterogeneous platform.
Oracle has also recently introduced the Oracle Integration Suite which bundles a number of components for data delivery and management in a distributed SOA environment to help organisations exploit and extend existing IT assets.
The Oracle Data Provider for .NET is an important tool for Microsoft developers that connects .NET applications to the Oracle database. Like SQL Server’s .NET data provider (SqlClient), it inherits from all the ADO.NET base classes. The ADO.NET constructors, methods and properties that you use with SQL Server will be the same with Oracle. ODP.NET has the added benefit of providing access to all of Oracle database’s advanced features such as Real Application Clusters without compromising performance.
Portability
The ability to port an application from one platform to another is something that concerns both in-house developers and the ISV community. An ISV can gain access to new markets by creating an Oracle-ready version of its Microsoft–based application. They can respond to an existing customer’s requirements to implement the application on Oracle or in an SOA environment.
Both these scenarios often involve migration and Oracle provides tools to assist with this. The Oracle Migration Workbench is a free download that comes with Oracle SQL Developer to assist with Microsoft SQL Server and Access migration. Oracle holds regular workshops and has dedicated facilities for migration projects.
Developer support
In addition to its broad range of products for SOA developers, Oracle has been active in supporting the developer and ISV communities in an increasingly complex and competitive landscape. Last year, they asked Grey Matter to run the Oracle on Windows Zone portal which provides Microsoft developers with access to information, tutorials and downloads to help them build .NET applications on Oracle.
More recently, Oracle has partnered with Grey Matter to launch a dedicated Web site that provides resources for ISVs with an interest in Oracle. This was successfully launched in March this year.