Remembering the Future

via The "a ha" moment. Mark Fussell has developed a nice document outlining our recommendations for data access in Whidbey. (It is worth reading, but keep in mind it is a work in progress and will be updated and expanded based on Whidbey feedback.) IMHO, the new data access options (first class SqlXml framework and ObjectSpaces) are making SqlClient (using transact Sql statements) a low level interface for cases where fine grained control and performance are required or the features of SqlXml or ObjectSpaces are not required. Are most users ready to accept that and have we made the higher level data access options powerful enough to enable user to solve real problems exclusvely using those abstractions? The answer to the first question is probably no - getting developers to give up power is not an easy task. I don't know the answer to the second question, but I worry about it all the time.