I Protest!: Why (almost) every Web site needs an RDBMS

Leave it to IBM to publish an article that totally disregards one of their own products.

Nobody is going to argue with the author (David Mertz) about the necessity of a database for content management of a Web site. My argument is that while Lotus Notes is not an relational database… it has powered many (in my lifetime I have probably seen 1,000+ applications) web sites with ease. It’s unfair to leave this essential non-relational database out of the article.

I also have one more issue. I can’t quite figure out who the intended audience is. If it is written for developers who regularly read articles at developerWorks, I think the issue is almost moot. Are there really developers out there who don’t value a database backend for web sites? We’re the guys blogging with MySQL and Lotus Notes backends.

If the database is written for the users out there with non-RDBMS web sites, then the article is far too technical. The acronym ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) would never be used to help sell a database backend to a user.

Here’s why I think a database is an important piece for web sites:

• Ease of Maintenance - You can build admin tools to maintain a sites contents, links, and styles
• Security - Users and roles can be maintained to prevent unwanted changes to your site
• Portablity - Need to change your front end system from PHP to Ruby? No problem. All of your content is safe.
• Data Transformation - Need RSS? No Problem… we’ll dump your data into RSS XML files. Need your site to be viewed by mobile phones? No problem. (I actually worked at a site that claimed it was high tech but their vast intranet wasn’t a Content Management System. It was a mess.)

A database backend is important… just don’t forget Lotus Notes!

30 January 2008 | lotus, programming, web design | Comments