Java developers can get a lot of mileage out of storing objects directly in an object-oriented database like db4o. Learn how db4o handles three concerns central to Java enterprise development: transactions, distributed data management, and Web application security.

Database auditing can be a crucial component of database security and compliance with government regulations. Database auditing helps to answer questions like “Who accessed or changed data?” and “When was it actually changed?” and “What was the old content prior to the change?” Your ability to answer such questions can make or break a compliance audit. Sometimes it may be necessary to review certain audit data in greater detail to determine how, when and who changed the data.

This article identifies enterprise data architecture dimensions that are used to analyze the requirements, constraints and boundaries in deciding an appropriate solution. This article explains in detail the various dimensions used in that reference that could yield richer insights when viewed using these perspectives.

JDBC, or Java™ Database Connectivity, is one of the most frequently used packages in the entire JDK, and yet few Java developers use it to its fullest — or most up-to-date — capacity. Ted Neward offers an introduction to newer JDBC features like ResultSets that automatically scroll and update on the fly, Rowsets that can work with or without an open database connection, and batch updates that can execute multiple SQL statements in one fast trip around the network.

This article covers some basic techniques to optimize the performance when working with an ORM and still getting all the benefits of Object-Relational mapping

Often, an existing database application must evolve rapidly by incremental steps. Alex describes a tried and tested system to provide an automated approach to deploying both new and existing database systems, whilst dealing with common security and configuration issues.

As applications are envisioned and delivered throughout any organization, the desire to use data replication as a “quick-fix” integration strategy often wins favor. This path of least resistance breeds redundancy and inconsistency. Regularly applying this antipattern within an enterprise dilutes the original long-term goals of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). However, depending on the context in which it surfaces, data replication can be viewed either positively or negatively. To successfully deliver to a service-oriented strategy, enterprise architects need to draw from the successes and failures of other architectures. Architecture patterns, when discovered and documented, can provide the best technique for managing the onerous job of influencing change in your enterprise. Weíll use both an antipattern and a pattern to describe how data replication can impact your enterprise architecture.

Databases are often out of sync with the applications they support, and getting the database and data into a known state is a significant challenge to manage. In this installment of Automation for the people, automation expert Paul Duvall demonstrates how the open source LiquiBase database-migration tool can reduce the pain of managing the constant of change with databases and applications.

This five-part series walks you through building a simple photo-sharing Web site using Perl and Apache to access Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) and SimpleDB. In this installment, follow your site's interaction with SimpleDB by learning how the URL creates a SimpleDB record for the uploaded file. Also learn how to create, edit, and delete comments as SimpleDB records on a photo for a particular user.

Many developers have asked how to use GWT and Hibernate together. Although you can find numerous discussions about this topic on the GWT Developer Forum, we thought it would be beneficial to sum up some of the most popular strategies, and highlight their advantages and shortcomings in the context of GWT application development.