Question

I am developing a java application which will be graphically depicting and organizing hundreds of objects. Each of these objects is loaded in from a SQL database, for use in this program.

The user sorts this data, in order to gain information about the dataset, i (as the programmer) have come across three distinct methods to accomplish this:

1. Use individual SQL queries to return pre-sorted data to the program.
2. Use a sorting algorithm locally to sort the entire dataset.
3. Use a local SQLite database to copy the entire dataset to, then query the local database for sorting instead.

Which would be preferable, or are there any other solutions I may have missed?

Answer 1

In general all of the solutions may work, it depends on the concrete requirements – my thoughts:

1. Use individual SQL queries to return pre-sorted data to the program

Works well if the user defines sorting criteria upfront. What if she wants to resort after data retrieval (leads to #2)? It may make sense to define a default sort for each request or a parameter influencing the sort sequence based on certain criteria like user role.

2. Use a sorting algorithm locally to sort the entire dataset

As outlined before, a combination of #1 and #2 may be what you need.

3. Use a local SQLite database to copy the entire dataset to, then query the local database for sorting instead

Totally different strategy, several things you have to care about:

1. data synchronization
2. security; working in large enterprises, I know that certain security people (e.g. auditors) get crazy when talking about local data replication
3. offline capabilities (advantage)
4. local storage

Personal option: I’d go with a combination of #1 and #2. Furthermore, I’d try to define the interface in a way that supports scrolling (e.g. “retrieve rows #20-100”).

Not a definite answer, but my opinion based on the facts you provided…