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Editor's//Comment
What's Next?
On Dec. 27, 1992 - almost exactly 10 years ago - Microsoft proudly announced the beta of the 1.0 version of SQL Server for Windows NT. Partnering with Sybase on this product, the SQL development team consisted of around five people. When the product shipped the following September, Microsoft gushed over SQL Server's numbers in its press release, proclaiming, "This architecture has allowed SQL Server to achieve a price/performance record for relational database management systems of 226.32 TPC-B transactions per second at a cost of $440.88 per transaction."
By way of comparison, today, the SQL development team is closer to 1,000 people. SQL Server 2000's best TPC-C throughput (the antiquated TPC-B has been retired) is 308,621 at a cost of $14.96 per transaction. What a difference a decade makes.
With Yukon on the horizon, I expect the next decade's differences are going to be equally dramatic, if not more so. You can't help but wonder what development doors the increasingly powerful - and cost-effective - tools we have at our disposal are going to open in the next few years. I can tell you, though, that I'm excited to publish great how-to articles about them when the time comes.
I'd like to be able to say that planning this data-access special issue of asp.netPRO to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of SQL Server was an ingenious plan of mine, but it wasn't. The truth is, it's pure coincidence (though it's a pretty cool one, if I may say so myself). What's not a coincidence, though, is that this special issue is about data access - as opposed to any of dozens of other important ASP.NET development topics. It's because you asked for it. More than any other topic, information on data access is what readers have been asking for. I hope this issue - with nine articles on data access - feeds that hunger of yours.
The question I have for you now is, what should our next special issue be about? Should it be on Web Services? After all, 62 percent of you say Web Services and XML are an important part of your job. Should it be on C#? Forty-three percent of you use that as your primary VS .NET development language (much higher than we anticipated - expect more C# code in this magazine from now on). Should it be on building an e-commerce site with ASP.NET? Sixty-six percent of you say you're heavily involved in e-business. Or should the next special issue we create be on something entirely different? You tell me.
The fact is, this magazine really is your ASP.NET forum. I pay close attention to what you ask for. And the more of you I hear from, the better this magazine will represent your interests. So let me ask you to answer five simple questions. I know your time is important, so I'll throw in a little incentive. I'll pick a response at random, and send that person an Xbox. Do I have your attention now? I thought so. Here are the questions (e-mail your answers to mailto:elden@aspnetPRO.com):
asp.netPRO has evolved a lot in its first year. Why, just in the past couple of months, we've added two new columns: "ControlTower," by DotNetJunkies' Doug Seven, devoted to using ASP.NET controls; and "ToolKit," by Ken McNamee, which explores the lesser-known - but incredibly useful - tools in VS .NET. And as ASP.NET continues to break new ground, this magazine will be right there with it. 2003 promises to be an interesting year for asp.netPRO and its readers. With your input, we're going to have a great time seeing what's next.
Elden Nelson is editor-in-chief of asp.netPRO and its companion newsletter, asp.netNOW. E-mail him at mailto: elden@aspnetPRO.com.
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