Jython And DB4O Happy Together

I will provide details later – I will probably also post to the DB4O forums – but here is the readers digest version: I have found that Jython and DB4O can play well together.

It was easy enough to create an instance of any Java class, use it, and save it using DB4O. However, I was unable to save my own objects, even if I inherited from another Java class. There is a way to compile these classes such that they can be used in a Java project, but that seemed like an extra step to me – I wanted simplicity.

To keep things simple, I created my basic classes using Java, and then I created a jar of the class files. I was able to create instances of these using Jython, I was able to use them, and I was able to save them. That seems good enough for now. I had hoped to find a way for someone who had little or no knowledge of Java to create classes and save them, but I still think my approach is useful.

If one is prototyping a new application, Jython is good if you want to write less code, and if you want to quickly develop your ideas. I will demonstrate this by recreating examples from the DB4O tutorials. Jython is a good glue, and I hope to show how it can be useful.

I expect that my approach will work with JRuby as well, which means that DB4O could be made available in Ruby on Rails running on the JVM. There is probably a good way to create something that looks and acts like Active Record for objects that works with DB4O. Active Record shows that you do not have to use SQL if you do not want to – the next step is to show that you do not have to use an RDBMS is you do not have to.

Watch for code and examples when I have time.