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Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 09:13:43
To: tomcat-user@jakarta.apache.org
From: chas <panda@skinnyhippo.com>
Subject: going from Zope to Tomcat, where are these features ?
In-Reply-To: <3BD7F120.4080205@clarologic.com>
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This is not meant as a comparison of Zope and Tomcat, and the
market has dictated that Java/JSP/J2EE is the way to go, so pls
do not treat this post as a troll.


However, in migrating from Zope to Tomcat, I can't help but 
wonder where the following features are in Tomcat.


1. In Zope, you can create permanent database connections
   with a click of a button. It comes part and parcel of 
   the application server.
   In Java, you can create your own database pool.
   (eg. http://webdevelopersjournal.com/columns/connection_pool.html)
   But does Tomcat really not come with its own database 
   pool manager built-in ?


2. In Zope, you create a "SQL Method", which is an object that
   basically contains a SQL statement and queries it against
   one of the database connections in your pool.  
   The advantage of such "SQL Methods" is that they can be fully
   tested/debugged standalone before using their output within 
   your pages.  The result is also cached and you can easily specify
   the time to cache, or the number of results to cache. 
   All it takes is your SQL query and 4-5 clicks of the mouse.

   There seem to be several methods of accessing DBs with Java/JSP :
   a. stuff all the Java code in Scriptlets within JSPs
   b. use Taglibs, using DBTags.
   c. use a javabean to take care of all DB functionality.
   
   ... but nothing as elegant as Zope's "SQL methods".

   For example, I have to agree with the following article - 
   http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-webdata/
   - that the scriptlets and even the DBTags code leave your 
   JSP pages a complete mess. 

   In short, there has to be a better, cleaner way of separating 

   <db_connections> - <sql_method> - <display_page>

   where  Display pages use the results of SQL method which 
   in turn use DB connections.  The article above suggest the
   cleanest way to separate these is with "includes" - including
   separate pages which take care of form validation, database
   queries, etc.

Am I overlooking something ? 

Thank you for your patience - sorry for such a long post.

chas

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