Overview

The field of application development is very broad and all-encompassing. While relational databases play a key role in most applications that need a persistent data store, they are not the driving force behind the development and selection of various programming models, frameworks, languages, and architectures.

In fact, application development priorities are driven by industry players and factors outside of the scope of databases. For example, Microsoft® is the key driver behind popular data access technologies such as ODBC, OLE DB and the .NET Framework. SUN and IBM application development divisions are behind the fast growing J2EE® programming model. The simplicity of PHP is deeply rooted in most Web sites; in fact, it's the cornerstone of one of the world's most recognizable search engines. IBM and Zend Core are strong proponents for open source technologies like PHP applications! On the frontier are Web Services (or rather, Services Oriented Architecture -- SOA for short). SOA is a new component based architecture that is poised to drastically alter the way in which applications are built. Many vendors, including IBM, have SOA architectures and design methodologies.

Recognizing that different clients make commitments to different architectures and technologies, DB2 UDB is developed to fit into any client's environment: from the APIs that implement SQL, to deployment strategies, to the Integrated Development Environments (IDE) which serve as the cornerstone for how these applications are built. For example, to preserve productivity, DB2 UDB provides open APIs and deep integration with popular IDEs such as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, PHP ZendCore, IBM Rational® Application Developer, IBM WebSphere® Studio, and more.

The DB2 UDB integration efforts result in tools and utilities that simplify the writing of SQL statements and, more importantly, the building of DB2 UDB server-side application logic such as stored procedures and user defined functions. Did you know that DB2 UDB was the first database in the world to support .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) stored procedures? Did you know that you can transform DB2 UDB business logic into Web Services (including .NET-based Web Services) by simple clicks-of-a-button in any programming model? These are but two examples of great productivity improvements when programming for the DB2 UDB platform.

But wait, there's more! Because many programmers have existing data that does not reside in DB2 UDB databases, IBM offers both transparent access to this data with federation capabilities. This means that non-DB2 UDB resources like XML files, Excel spreadsheets, CICS®, VSAM, Oracle databases, MQ Series® message queues, and virtually anything else you can think of can appear in a developer's tooling as a table. While you can't just find any database developer to write an MQ Series application, they all know how to INSERT, SELECT, and DELETE from a table, and that's exactly how they'll see (and operate with) these disparate resources in their native tooling. This not only leads to a flattening of any learning curve, but boosts economies of scale in the current invested skill set.

Have you ever thought about how an application developer goes about joining data from a SQL Server database with a DB2 UDB database? Rip-and-replace is too costly and just doesn't work. Having experts in multiple technologies is an option, but is just as costly. Hand-coding APIs into your application for connectivity implies extremely elastic costs when a change is needed. Programming applications that interact with DB2 UDB for z/OS®? No problem, the SQL API is 95% the same between DB2 UDB running on the Linux®, UNIX®, Windows®, i5/OS™ and z/OS platforms. When coding to the DB2 UDB platform, the database engine handles any function compensation, data type conversion, etc. needed. There's no question a commitment to the ANSI compliant open DB2 UDB SQL API truly means access to any data. Taking this into account, along with a unified set of drivers for application development, and it becomes clear that you won't find comparable productivity in any other database on the market today.

The following eBooks take you through a guided tour of your chosen programming model and the accompanying native support enablement that comes with DB2 UDB. You'll quickly find that the interfaces, the tooling, and the help are all cognizant of your choice of programming model. When it comes to application developers and DB2 UDB, you truly can have your cake and eat it too...

Click to open the PDF-format documents below:

Open DB2 & Java PDF

Open DB2 & .NET PDF

Open DB2 & Open Source PDF

Resources

Learn

• Learn about DB2 Express-C, the no-charge version of DB2 Express Edition for the community.
  
  
• Visit the developerWorks Information Management .NET page for more information about developing for DB2 UDB with .NET.
  
  
• Visit the developerWorks DB2 and Cloudscape Open Source Development page to access articles and other resources for Information Management open source development.
  
  
• Visit the developerWorks Information Management Java page for articles, tutorials, and other resources for developing with DB2 and Java.
  
  
• Stay current with developerWorks technical events and Webcasts.
  
  

Get products and technologies

• Download a free trial version of DB2 UDB Enterprise Server Edition.
  
  
• Now you can use DB2 for free. Download DB2 Express-C, a no-charge version of DB2 Express Edition for the community that offers the same core data features as DB2 Express Edtion and provides a solid base to build and deploy applications.
  
  
• Build your next development project with IBM trial software, available for download directly from developerWorks.
  
  

Discuss

• Check out the Information Management forums page and get involved in discussion forums on developing for DB2 with Java, .NET, open source tools, and more.
  
  
• Participate in developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.
  
  

About the authors

Dirk deRoos (BA, BCS) is a technical writer on the DB2 Information Development team. He has co-authored The Official Guide to DB2 Version 8.1.2 (Prentice-Hall, 2003), and written chapters for DB2: The Complete Reference (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2001). Dirk specializes in DB2 application development, with a focus on .NET.

Gwyneth Evans is a software and information developer in the DB2 Information Development team for DB2 UDB for Linux, UNIX, and Windows at the IBM Software Lab in Toronto with a focus on SQL and application development. She has previously worked in product development for the DB2 UDB for Linux, UNIX, and Windows product and as an application developer.

Grant Hutchison is a Product Manager responsible for supporting the application development community for IBM database servers including DB2 UDB and Cloudscape. Grant has a graduate degree in Software Engineering and he has held various technical and management roles in the IBM Toronto lab over the past 13 years.

Paul C. Zikopoulos, BA, MBA, is an award-winning writer and speaker with the IBM Database Competitive Technology team. He has more than ten years of experience with DB2 UDB and has written over sixty magazine articles and several books about it. Paul has co-authored the books: DB2 Version 8: The Official Guide, DB2: The Complete Reference, DB2 Fundamentals Certification for Dummies, DB2 for Dummies, and A DBA's Guide to Databases Under Linux. Paul is a DB2 Certified Advanced Technical Expert (DRDA and Cluster/EEE) and a DB2 Certified Solutions Expert (Business Intelligence and Database Administration). In his spare time, he enjoys all sorts of sporting activities, running with his dog Chachi, and trying to figure out the world according to Chloe, his new daughter. You can reach him at paulz_ibm@msn.com

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Table of contents

• Overview
• Resources
• About the authors
• Comments

Next steps from IBM

• Try: DB2 Enterprise
• Demo: DB2 serving ATOM feed
• Webcast: A smarter way to successful SOA - Information as a trusted strategic asset
• Briefing: Information on Demand
• Buy: DB2 Enterprise

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