Sql Server 2000 and 2005: fingers in many pies

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Sql Server 2000 and 2005: fingers in many pies

Author

Topic

jknight
Starting Member

6 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 16:20:21

Greetings all,

My company is moving from developing with Sql Server 2000 to developing in 2005, but we don't necessarily want to require that our customers upgrade with us.

Is it possible for us to develop in 2005 without compatibility problems with 2000? By develop, I refer to the many stored procedures we would write, databases we would create/open/backup/restore, and scripts we would run.

Generally, are we going to have backwards compatiblity issues if our customers continue to use 2000?

Thanks,

Jason Knight
Developer

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 16:26:27

Yes you could run into problems. You could switch your compatibility level to 80 in your dev 2005 environment to mitigate most issues.

I'd highly recommend developing in the same version as what your clients will use though.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/

jknight
Starting Member

6 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 16:49:16

Wow tkizer, that was a quick reponse; and thanks for it.

Unfortunately, we soon will not have the option of developing in the same environment as our clients as a couple of them are moving to 2005. We are caught between the proverbial rock and proverbial hard place.

That said, it may not be as bad as it seems. Mainly, we would need to be exporting the databases we develop into Sql Server 2000-compatible databases that will be used in an application we have developed. For our other customers (those upgrading), we will simply give them the databases we create for them in 2005's native format.

Would that issue be within the set of '[mitigated]' issues you mentioned?

Thanks,

Jason Knight
Developer

dataguru1971
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

1464 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 17:04:37

If your clients move to 2005, you can still develop on 2000. It is the other way around that will give you issues.

Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

jknight
Starting Member

6 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 17:26:47

Thanks dataguru,

Let me preface this post by saying, I'm no Sql Server expert. That said, how is it that we would avoid compatibility issues by developing in 2000 for 2005 but run into problems if we develop in 2005 for 2000?

Great comments all.

Thanks,

Jason Knight
Developer

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 17:30:51

Because the clients could use 2005 but set the database compatibility level to 80 (and therefore by using 2000 for the database)

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/

Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)

7020 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-12 : 17:36:12

You can write code that runs in both versions of SQL Server, but you should plan on testing it in every version of SQL Server that you plan to support.

CODO ERGO SUM

pootle_flump

1064 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-13 : 06:31:07

Most software provides some form of backward compatibility - i.e. code written in a previous version will, by and large, run on a new version. There is no way that they can provide forward compatibility however i.e. code written in a new version will run on an old version - to do this they would need to be able to see into the future. This is why you should limit yourself to developing in 2000 and then test your code in 2000 and 2005.

You would also be well advised to look at features that are deprecated in 2005\ 2008 and continue your development with this in mind. I would agree with Tara - I would strongly advise against developing in 2005. The compatibility level setting is insufficient as a safety net.

HTH

jknight
Starting Member

6 Posts

Posted - 2007-11-13 : 10:52:42

Thanks all. You all have answered my question, but I have a new one :D, but as I am a considerate poster, I have created a new topic linked to below. Thanks again.

[url]http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=92567[/url]

Thanks,

Jason Knight
Developer

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