developing for MSSQL without buying the application?

[daamsie]

Hi, I am looking at developing an e-commerce application and need to be able to develop for MSSQL. If I understand correctly, there is no 'free' version of MSSQL for developers? Considering I will only be using it on my local computer for testing, I don't want to fork out the money to buy it. Is there any recommended way of developing for MSSQL without buying the thing? I wish they had a trial download like Coldfusion does that turns into a single user license - or does such a thing exist and I just don't know about it?

 

[clarkin]

MS have a 'developer edition' of SQL Server which is for exactly the kind of use you mention. Their website lists a license fee of $499, but its about to come down to $49 (a bit more affordable).

Check out this story:

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/development.asp

I'm not sure MS ever give free licenses, but at least this seems a step in the right direction (makes it much for feasible for freelance type developers)


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[theoxyde]

Look for MSDE -- its basically SQL Server lite.

Depending on your development environment (Visual Studio?) it may come with it.

 

[clarkin]

Also, look at this page:

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/overview/default.asp

A full breakdown of all the different flavours of SQL Server and their limitations/capabilities.


Posting code? Wrap it with code tags: [ignore]

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[daamsie]

Basically I will develop using a freebie HTML code editor that I have used for a couple of years now quite happily, so no extras with that

$49 sounds like an acceptable price.. I may be able to pull that off! Any idea when in August it might drop though? I need to get started in the next two weeks or so, so it may be too late.

MSDE sounds interesting. What limitiations will it have compared to MSSQL? Is it a freely available download or at least a cheap one?

 

[theoxyde]

MSDE doesn't come with the enterprise manager or other admin tools like SQL Server does. There is a 2GB(?) size limitation on database size, and it will only run on one processor.

However, management can be done from other utilities (i.e. Visual Studio).

The MSDE download area is

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/msde/downloads/default.asp

but I don't know if the full download is available there. MSDE also ships with any version of Visual Studio.NET as well. One option is to purchase Visual Basic or C# .NET Standard (usually around $99 US) which ships with MSDE and has the Server Explorer feature that can be used to administer it.