[dundee] Database front end - any ideas?

[Rick Moynihan]

I figure you'll get lots of sensible answers to your question, but if
one of your requirements is to do something fun then you might
consider a "crazy" choice and take a look at one of '_why the lucky
stiffs' frameworks.

Implemented in Ruby they tend to be incredibly elegant and artful.

I've personally taken much joy in using his 'camping web framework'
for personal projects:

http://camping.rubyforge.org/files/README.html

(more camping resources http://del.icio.us/InkyHarmonics/camping )

Camping however is built on ActiveRecord, which might be a problem if
the goal of the exercise is to learn databases and SQL, as being an
ORM layer it tends to abstract you from such details as much as
possible.

_why is very highly regarded in the Ruby community for his flair,
artistry and clever meta-programming.  You can see his blogs here:

http://hackety.org/
http://redhanded.hobix.com/

If you want to do a desktop app, then you might also consider using
shoes (which I've not yet tried, but would like to given half a
chance).

http://del.icio.us/InkyHarmonics/shoes

Shoes also has the best API reference documentation I've *ever* seen:

http://code.whytheluckystiff.net/entirety/

In all honesty though, you might want to take this suggestion with a
pinch of salt as this stuff is pretty far from the mainstream, and
probably better used for personal projects where the purpose is
personal enjoyment rather than a coursework submission :-)

R.


-- 
Rick Moynihan
rick.moynihan at gmail.com
http://sourcesmouth.co.uk/blog/