Newsletter :: January 2008
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K U D O S
O F T H E M O N T H
"Mapping a three dimensional object design to a flat, two dimensional, relational
database is a waste of time and no longer needed. Actually, it's no longer needed
for many years now."
--
cDima, November 18, 2007
A R T I C L E S
-- db4objects ANNOUNCES db4o AS ANDROID READY --
db4o runs seamlessly on the Android platform, a software stack for mobile devices
introduced recently by the Google-backed Open Handset Alliance. Minutes after downloading the Android
SDK db4objects engineers had Android running with db4o. Android with db4o is now
tested regularly against 3,500 test cases with no problems.
The first look at Android showed a very advanced application framework complete
with development environment, tools, debuggers and vital applications for developers
to leverage and create powerful applications. The big surprise was that Android
is bundled with a relational database for persistence, requiring cumbersome plumbing
between objects and tables.
Android and db4o are a perfect OO-fit that eliminates any mapping nightmares and
allows developers to create clean and easy to maintain code. German Viscuso, db4objects' Community Manager makes a case
in point with two sample apps that run on db4o – more about the apps later in this
newsletter.
Read the
full Android press release and visit our Android web page for more information and links.
-- WHY ANDROID WILL START THE MOBILE TORNADO --
The release of Android "has been one of the most exciting events in the lifetime
of our product and our company" writes
Carl Rosenberger, db4objects' Chief Software Architect in a blog post where
he reflects on the impact of Android on the mobile world and on db4objects.
One indication that Carl is not the only one who thinks along these lines is that
his blog post has been viewed over 6,000 times since it was posted on Nov 18th.
And that is just one of over 28,000 blog posts that talk about Google Android according
to a
search on Technorati.
Read what the excitement is all about in the blog titled "Why Android will start the mobile Tornado"
-- db4o RELEASED WITH TRANSPARENT ACTIVATION FOR .NET --
db4objects has announced availability of a development (beta) release of version
7.0 of db4o for .NET for immediate download from the db4o Download Center. After introducing native Transparent
Activation for Java and db4o collections in November, the equivalent support is
now available to .NET users.
Transparent Activation (TA) is another milestone on the path to simpler persistence
code that at the same time improves performance. TA automatically detects which
objects are required by the application, thereby only loading the absolute minimum
from disk, which consumes less memory and boosts performance. As developers no longer
need to manually define the activation depth of the objects they are manipulating,
storing or retrieving, they can significantly slash development time.
Adriano has written a great blog post called Object activation (in depth) that explains TA in detail.
You can also read more about Transparent Activation and other enhancements to db4o
7.0 in the product information pdf.
-- dVP 2008 SELECTION CONCLUDED --
In recognition of their outstanding contributions, db4objects would like to congratulate
21 additional individuals who were identified in the second and final round of the
selection process and will now join the distinguished list of
db4o most Valued Professionals (dVP) 2008
The new dVPs that represent 10 different countries are now listed on the dVP 2008 directory page. They will receive the dVP 2008
certificate, db4o accessories, and other special privileges.
Read more about the dVP Program, its benefits, the selection criteria, and the list
of the dVP 2008 award recipients on the dVP
web site.
-- ANDROID PASSWORD MANAGER POWERED BY db4o --
Immediately after the release of the Android SDK sample apps are showing up everywhere.
German
Viscuso, db4objects' Community Manager, took one of the first apps available
called
PasswordSafe by Steven Osborn and made it run with db4o. German shows how
db4o makes the handling of persistence much more intuitive and results in much cleaner
code than with SQLite. Steven Osborn commented that “the db4o code is much more
elegant.”
For a side-by-side comparison of persistence with db4o vs SQLite on PasswordSafe
please check the Android Password Manager Project.
-- MapMe FOR ANDROID STORES NAVPOINTS IN DB4O --
Google Maps, the killer app for today's smart-phones, is also a foundation for great
new location based services.
BrowseMap by Davanum Srinivas is a simple Google Maps viewer for Android
that enables drawing overlays.
MapMe by German Viscuso
adds several features on top of the BrowseMap by leveraging the db4o object persistence
engine to:
- Bookmark a location to db4o
- Browse a list of bookmarks
- Edit bookmarks
- Navigate to a location on the map from a bookmark
- Center map on current GPS reported location
German shows how db4o can enhance the application by providing easy and straight
forward object persistence services. The next version of MapMe will feature the
storage and sharing of routes obtained by tracking the GPS device and a service
for locating friends on the globe!
Take a look at the
MapMe Project.
-- NEW BOOK ON db4o --
Ina Brenner
has kindly uploaded the current version of her upcoming db4o book (in German) which
covers both db4o basic and advanced topics and features a whole small content management
system using db4o as companion (Java). She also started translating the first chapters
to English! Follow the link to check out the book "Datenbankentwicklung mit db4o".
-- db4o2d GEO-SPACIAL ATTRIBUTE PROJECT UPDATED --
db4o2D introduces geometrical attribute types for db4o databases as an add-on (db4o
Java version). The representation of the attribute types is based on the Java Topology
Suite (JTS). To learn more see the db4o2D project space.
-- db4o NETBEANS PLUG-IN REACHES V0.6 --
Gerd Klevesaat
has released an updated version of the plugin for the netbeans IDE to manage db4objects
databases. Read about new features and changes in version 0.6 in the
blog post or visit the db4o Netbeans Plug-In Project.
L O O K I N G I N T O T H E M I R R O R
Select press coverage about db4o since the last newsletter:
"db4objects Announces db4o Database for Android"
Open Handset Magazine, December 7, 2007
"db4o 7.0 is now in beta for the Java Community"
TheServerSide, November 21, 2007, by Joseph Ottinger
"First Look: db4Objects
Database"
Application Development Trends, November 19, 2007, by Will Kraft
"Hot skills: cut costs and coding time with Database for Objects"
ComputerWeekly, November 19, 2007, by Nick Langley
"Data Retrieval With Single Line of Code"
SD Times, November 14, 2007, by P.J. Connolly
"db4objects Updates Object Database Pack, Adds Services"
InformationWeek, November 14, 2007, by Michael Singer
"db4objects Announces Release of Version 7.0 and XtremeConnect"
Database Trends and Applications, November 13, 2007
--------
With best regards
The db4objects team.
www.db4o.com
newsletter@db4o.com
Phone +1 (650) 577-2340
1900 S Norfolk Street, Suite 350
San Mateo, CA 94403 (USA)