From the Editor - July 1995David M. Kalman
From the Editor - July 1995If one dog year is the equivalent of seven human years, then one magazine month is equivalent to three human months. While youŭre enjoying your July issue, weŭre producing the September issue and planning the October issue and beyond. In other words, while you take your mid-summer vacations (as if developers and DBAs ever get vacations), weŭre at the office grinding out some of our biggest issues of the year.
In September, weŭll review several new database servers for workgroups and departments. (Weŭre still finalizing the list of products, so donŭt ask which ones weŭll cover.) In October, weŭll examine object-oriented technology for developing database applications. That report will cover the latest OOP tools and their integration with non-OO data sources. It will also discuss the reusability of models vs. code. In November, weŭll explore advanced technologies and their applicability to database management. That article will touch on issues such as software usability, lexical analysis (natural language), and query technology for finding relevant information in large, unstructured textbases. Finally, 1995 will end with our perennial case studies blockbuster. In that issue, weŭll report on new corporate DBMS installations, with a focus on data warehousing and multistage data migration.
This takes to us 1996, which is right around the corner in magazine years. (Frightening, isnŭt it?) For the new year, weŭll continue to cover the now-maturing market for client/server DBMSs and tools and the emerging field of software components. Weŭll also investigate ways that organizations can take advantage of the data theyŭve been collecting to improve business decision making. Topics in this subject area will include data warehouse development, digital publishing, and data mining. The editor in chiefŭs Official Handbook says that every year must have a tagline, so letŭs call 1996: "The year of getting data out."
Now I donŭt want to give you the impression that weŭve already cast the 1996 schedule in stone. We have lots of research to review and many opinions to consider (and your opinions count most). To provide input for our 1996 planning process, please take a moment to fill out and return the following mini-survey:
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Please respond via Internet mail dkalman@mfi.com or fax (415-358-9855). This is just one of several formal and informal surveys we plan to do. If youŭd like to participate in additional surveys, please visit DBMS on the Internet at http://www.dbmsmag.com and view the Surveys page. Thanks for your input, and thanks for reading DBMS.
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