What are you thankful for about Data Abstract?

jim -

RemObjects SDK’s big brother is Data Abstract.  It make use of the SDK at the core to provide the communication between the middle-tier and the client.  Of course Data Abstract goes much further then that.  It provides a total multi-tier database access framework to build scalable multi-tier applications.  It makes the data access really simple, so developers can focus on actually making their applications useful.  There is a lot to be thankful for about Data Abstract, so I will list a few of my favorites:

  1. Schemas – Really the heart of Data Abstract, Schemas provide an easy way to model your data layer and map it to a database for storage.  They are also where you define all your other business rules.  And thanks to Schema Modeler, it is so easy to define your schema, so you can get on to the interesting work.
  2. Relativity Server – More then “Middle-tier in a box,” it is the last middle-tier server you need.  Stop writing yet another middle-tier server, and let Relativity do the job for you.
  3. DA SQL – I can’t tell you how many times I have been writing a client against some other middle-tier and wished I could write some SQL to deal with some data.  Of course most systems won’t let you because passing SQL from the client to the server would violate the business rules.  DA SQL fixes that by letting you run SQL against the Schema in the middle-tier, which keeps all your business rules intact. Gotta love that!
  4. OData – A great way to publish data access for other clients to connect to.  And best of all, it all follows the business rules defined in the schema, and has login support so you know your data is safe.
  5. Multi-platform compatibility – Just like RemObjects SDK, Data Abstract is everywhere I want it to be, so I can create clients on the iPhone, Windows, the Mac or Linux, and they all talk to the same server.
  6. Client Side Scripting – Having scripts on the server to validate business rules is great, but being able to send those scripts to the client so the client can validate the business rules without needing to make a round trip to the server really improves performance.
  7. Asynchronous Requests – Keep the client application responding while the data is updated in the background.  Sure it takes just as much time, but a responsive client means a happy user.

Oh I am sure there are a lot more.  So tell me what features you are thankful for in Data Abstract?