XML size (was: no subject)

[Derek Atkins]

Paul Lussier <plussier@mindspring.com> writes:

> Right, but now you've locked yourself into a DB server which needs to 
> run on the system, and you're no longer talking about something small 
> and embedded like Berkeley-DB.  This may improve performance of the 

We were never talking about Berkeley-DB.  I for one was looking at
MySQL.  SQLite would work but the datafiles are not host-independent.

> application, but at the sacrifice of overall system performance of 
> now having to run something like MySQL or PostgreSQL.  Additionally, 
> you're also back to requiring the average home user to install and 
> maintain a dbms, something they most likely have no knowledge of or
> any desire to have knowledge of.

No.. MySQL has an embedded server.  You do NOT need another process
running.  The SQL server would be part of Gnucash.  Take a look
at www.mysql.com/

> I'll buy that, but as I said, in order to get this, you've increased 
> overall complexity of the entire system for the small gain in 
> performance of one application which probably isn't even running all 
> the time.

I don't think it's going to be a small gain, especially over time.
But there is no way to tell until it's actually implemented.  However,
without even coding it yet, I will bet you a beer that if you compare
the startup, data access, data modification, and shutdown of Gnucash
on the same machine using the same data stored in either XML or
embedded SQL that you will find the SQL to be faster, and the more
data you have the faster the SQL will be.

> I still maintain that for the average home user, the flat ascii text 
> file is the best bet.

Again, I disagree with you.  My parents couldn't care less what file
format their data is.  They care about usability of the application,
and part of that usability is speed of startup, speed of shutdown, and
speed of data access/modification.

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
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