Free Databases

Hi, I was wondering if there are any free database development programs with a gui like access or something...

Thanks...

You can download SQL Server 2005 Express, along with the Management Studio Express CTP program, that gives you a database and a program that combines the old Enterprise manager and Query Analyser functions.

You can download MySQL for free, I haven't used it in a long time, so am not sure what features it comes with now, but there used to be another program which gave you a Window into the database.

HTH

Thanks I have SQL server Express edition althaugh I have never used it, I will look at the Management Studio Express CTP program...

Any others?

mysql is good. it also has a mysql .net connector. you can download both from mysql.com


bear

Does MySQL have a database designer like access where you name a feild and set its datatype from a dropdown list or something equivelant, or do you have to create databases by writing SQL statements...
And if you use it in .net do you have to install anything on the end users computer, MySQL or just drivers?
Does the connecter plug into visual studio so you can create databses there?

MySQL provides a GUI administration tool, creatively named MySQL Administrator, which is available from their website. The .NET connector must be installed on client machines. I don't know of any plugins for Visual Studio though.

Thanks all, I think I will use MySQL, I also have all the awnsers to my other questions...
But I have a few more,
For what scale is MySQL good for, what are its shortcommings/strongpoints?
How does it stack up against SQL Server, SQLite, Jade and Oracle etc?

Basically from what Ive learnt, the databases mentioned above are only
competed against by each other, is that right, are there other DB packages that are worth consideration?

Oracle is the big daddy of databases, but it's expensive. As far as I know the free version is just for development and testing, not deployment.
SQL Server is also an excellent DBMS.

Out of the box, MySQL scales pretty well, but not as well as those two. I know Google uses it, but I'm pretty sure they use custom storage engines.
Version 5 has a lot of the features of Oracle and SQL Server, such as stored procedures, triggers, ACID transactions, and a whole bunch of other things that I have never found a use for.

The other well-known open source database server is PostgreSQL; it provides some nice features, but I don't think it performs as well as MySQL.

I know nothing about SQLite or Jade.

Thanks for the info, I guess the practical option is MySQL...
Jade is an object orriented DBMS, rather than declare tables etc, you declare objects with their propertys methods etc, it also supports inheritance etc.