[MUD-Dev] Re: Databases: was Re: skill system

["John Bertoglio" <alexb#internetcds,com>]

From: Mike Sellers <mike#bignetwork,com>
Date: Thursday, June 11, 1998 1:46 PM


>My impression is that --for some really unaccountable reason-- mud
>developers have pretty much ignored the benefit of using existing
databases
>and their tools.  A lot of the hard problems in mudding (e.g. dragon's
>dinner) have been resolved a long time ago in the button-down db world.
>Any good DB is going to be worthwhile for anything larger than the
smallest
>muds.  Oracle is overkill unless you're talking about thousands of
>concurrent players.  An SQL-accessible DB might well be useful, but at the
>very least an external, free-standing, well-formed database is going to
>help a lot with changing informational needs over time.

We use Visual FoxPro as the engine for our system. It has a full (if
slightly idiosyncratic) SQL, objects and all the good stuff you remember
from dBase II. While it supports a SQL server back end (MS is promoting VFP
as a middleware developmement tool), its native speed is higher unless you
reach the point where distributed processing is required. There are a lot
of advantages for the developer since the code is written at such a high
level that even a programmer with modest skills (like me) can be very
productive.


>Mike Sellers Chief Creative Officer The Big Network
>mike#bignetwork,com
><http://www.bignetwork.com/>http://www.bignetwork.com

>             Fun Is Good

John Bertoglio

--
MUD-Dev: Advancing an unrealised future.