Database Applications

What are Database Applications?

Simply put, they are pieces of software that store information in a database. Many people think of Microsoft Excel as a databse, but it is not. Excel is a spreadsheet program, that is arguably one of the most versatile applications in the world. Excel can store a lot of data, and use internal functions like VLOOKUP mimic some of the functionality of a database, but it falls short in several other areas.

Using the right tool for the job will save you a lot of time and headache later on. A database, in this context, is just information stored that can be accessed in various ways. While Excel technically fits this simplistic description, it lacks many features of true databases.

True databases come in a couple of flavors. The most popular are relational(SQL), and non-relational(noSQL). SQL, pronounced 'see-quil' in the industry, are very good for keeping data that is related. An example of this would be having a database for courses at a college, an inventory of parts, movies and the actors in the movies. NoSQL databases, are better suited for information that isn't related, such as documents, or key:value pairs.

Why Do You Need a Database Application?

The truth is, you may not. Every problem has multiple solutions, and not all roads lead to a database. Some signs you need a database are:

You have several people or processes that need access to data at the same time.
There is a need to constrain the data being stored.
Thre is a massive amount of information. (Excel does not handle this very well)

If you are unsure about what you need, please reach out to us at info@innovativeproblemsolvers.com.

What do We Offer?

We can help you design and implement a database, along with the front and backend access to the data. Leverage our experience to create the exact right fit for your specific need.

We prefer to create web-based applications. We can create a database application that only runs on one machine, but we have found that this is usually very inefficent. By leveraging the web-based model we can provide a solution that is more robust and a shorter period of time. It is entirely possible to utilize the application on a single computer without allowing access from external parties, but more often than not our customers want to use the data in many places.

Additionally, by creating the application as a web-based application we take advantage of the cross compatibility of web-pages. That is, our application uses any browser as it's interface. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera, and many others. This means that you are not locked in to using one operating system such as Windows. You have the option to use other OS's such as Mac or Linux.