Alpha Software Targets Web-Based Apps With New Release

Alpha Five Version 6 brings point-and-click development to even "big iron" and other databases, including Oracle, DB2, SQL Server and MySQL, according to Rabins.

"Everyone wants database-driven Web sites, but the tools for creating those sites have almost gone backward," he told CRN. "Now you have to typically program in PHP, and that's a 3G language. Even doing a trivial form for collecting data and then verifying it can take days. We can now let VARs create those Web sites in a fraction of the time."

John Bowen, president of Firm Support Software, a Kingston, N.Y. VAR said the world is more than ready for easier, more intuitive database and Web development tools. "We see a lot of pent-up demand for Web-based applications. The time is right, maybe more than right, to convert Alpha 5 apps to the Web," he noted.

And, if developers contrast Alpha development to Microsoft's .Net world, they may be pleasantly surprised, he added. "With Alpha there is no comparison, you get it done you get it over with in a fraction of the time."

Currently, if a Web site relies on SQL Server for the back-end database, programmers use ASP to develop it. If MySQL is used on the back end, developers typically program with PHP, Perl or Python, none of which is known for user-friendliness or providing a fast turnaround.

Rabins is particularly jazzed about Alpha's new alliance with MySQL, the database darling of the open-source crowd. "MySQL is trying and succeeding in penetrating major accounts, and then the accounts are saying, 'You've got a great database engine, but how the heck do I build apps?' Up until now, the answer was PHP, Perl or Python--all variants of the same thing and all heavy-duty programming stuff," he said.

Alpha Five Version 6 brings a more graphical, point-and-click model to that world, Rabins noted. "We work against Oracle, DB2, SQL Server--any database as long as it has an ADO component," he said.

Alpha Software has carved a good niche by offering easy-to-use databases to people who aren't necessarily programmers. Microsoft recently said it would offer scaled-down versions of its tools and database for enthusiasts, hobbyists and students.

Pricing for Alpha Five Version 6 starts at $349 for a single user. Alpha's Web Application Server costs $699, and introductory pricing for the combination is $849.