[Zope] Data Containers

[Stephan Richter]

hello guys,

after reading the Z Class Tutorial today I came to the following conclusion:

There are actually three major data containers for Zope:
XML Documents, Databases and ZClasses.

XML Documents:
==============

Advantages:
* very common format
* many, many application understand it 
* open standards are defined and will be soon widely implemented (XML, CSS,
XSL, DOM)
* integrates nicely into zope by creating a tree
* Can be used with catalog (????)

Disdvantages:
* still a little slow for large data pieces
* HTML output a little complex (a lot of render methods)

Usage:
Documentation, White Papers, News, Polls, Threaded Discussions

Databases:
=========

Advantages:
* usually very fast data access
* can contain large amounts of data
* fast search by indexing

Disadvantages:
* needs Adapter for every different type of DB
* depends strongly on Python's DB modules
* does not integrate well into Zope (not ZCatalog ...)

Usage:
* member records, financing, data warehousing

ZClasses:
========

Advantages:
* natural to Zope
* easily indexed through ZCatalog
* great for web specific data

Diadvantages:
* not appropriate for large amounts of data (????)

Usage:
News, Threaded Discussions, Polls, Document Collectors


As you can see some Usage items appear on several containers. I would like the
community to comment on my points and correct them where necessary. I will post
the results as usual on my Zope Portal site at
http://www.zope.org:18200/Members/srichter

thanks everyone in advance! 

regards,
stephan
--
Stephan Richter
iXL - Software Designer and Engineer