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HTTP is not a substitute for SQL. When you integrate applications via a shared database, you have a star topology. When you integrate applications via web services, you have a spaghetti topology -- with every application potentially talking to every other application.

I think Fowler is highly over rated. He has brought far more complexity into the software development space then good solutions. When his book UML distilled came out it was highly regarded as one of the worst books on UML, but with persistence comes fame and fortune. And now his book is popular and so are his ideas. But in reality, he has single handedly doubled the amount of information a developer has to have to be marketable.

You should still have a star topology - just the database is encapsulated by a service layer. As Fowler states, this frees the design of the actual data storage from dependencies on any other system touching it (besides the service layer, obviously). This frees up development teams to change the database however they see fit without breaking their client applications. Therefore, it is easier to use a non-standard toolset, thus driving a market for non-RDBMS storage solutions.

Agree with DZVoter. I don't see any value in this post.

He just notes that he has noticed lately growing interest about non relational databases and gives some explanations why in his opinion it is so. He also sees it as positive thing. I see it same way, for example i have played with db4o lately and i like it a lot. No need for hibernate mappings!

Absolutely tiger lets have a few more posts on how ** not ** to hack the classloader class and adding synchronization into a codebase just to get data moving around in a grid. You will have my vote!

Martin Fowler desperately on the lookout for the next hype.