SQL Server Gets .NET, XML

The next version of SQL Server, code-named Yukon, will integrate the .NET Framework’s Common Language Runtime (CLR) and offer native support for XML and Web services. .NET Framework integration could improve stability of business systems that depend heavily on custom server-side database code (as many financial and billing systems do) and increase productivity of developers building such systems by letting them create database-resident logic with Visual Studio, using Visual Basic (VB) .NET or C#. However, database developers will still need to understand Transact-SQL (T-SQL), SQL Server’s native programming language, and development organizations must carefully consider where to use T-SQL versus .NET languages.

.NET Framework integration and better support for XML and Web services in Yukon could help Microsoft use the success of SQL Server to further drive use of the .NET Framework for enterprise application development, and the adoption of XML and Web services for business-to-business data exchange. With Visual Studio’s sophisticated development environment and tool set, Yukon could also offer a better alternative to database developers using Java to program competing databases, such as IBM’s DB2 and Oracle.