This post originated from an RSS feed registered with .NET Buzz by Udi Dahan. Original Post: Could SQL Server act as an OO DB ?! Feed Title: Udi Dahan - The Software Simplist Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/UdiDahan-TheSoftwareSimplist Feed Description: I am a software simplist. I make this beast of architecting, analysing, designing, developing, testing, managing, deploying software systems simple. This blog is about how I do it. Latest .NET Buzz Posts Latest .NET Buzz Posts by Udi Dahan Latest Posts From Udi Dahan - The Software Simplist

Chris takes a look at a different way to interact with SQL Server - using sqlxml and .Net xml serialization. I remember seeing this thing for the first time about a year ago, and I too had an "egad !" type moment. Could SQL Server act as an OO DB ?!

After much pondering, then some thinking, a bit of checking, and thinking some more, I came up with an answer ( not the answer, just an answer ). The answer is, unfortunately, no. There's more to bridging the OO-relational chasm than considering a row as a serialized object.

Yes, it is a cool technology. Yes, it does have it's applications. No, it can not serve as the backbone of most information systems. I won't get into the reasons here, but just by applying some reverse logic we can get to the same outcome. ( Actually, while many may argue my technical points against sqlxml at an architectural level, the reverse logic argument is quite solid ).

Sqlxml has been around for a while. Lots of developers know of its existence. Not once has Microsoft released anything more than demo-ware of how to use this technology in production systems as an OO-Relational bridge. No patterns were written about it. In fact, for such a cool technology, it must have been the least hyped ever.

So, if enough people are aware of a tool, and don't use it to solve common problems, and the makers of the tool follow suit, there's a good chance that the technology should not leave the cool camp and head over to the production camp.