Entry

What is the difference between Sybase db-lib and ct-lib ?

Jul 7th, 1999 10:51
Eric van der Vlist, Onno Benschop,

DB-LIB is the original database library developed with the first
releases of Sybase SQL Server.
DB-LIB is perfectly covering the basic needs of database access (sending
a query and retrieving info) plus some specificities of Sybase (RPCs,
notifications, BCP, ...).
In 93, when System 10 was in development, it became clear that the
addition of standard SQL features such as cursors and dynamic queries
couldn't be implemented without a major update of DB-LIB and, instead of
doing that, Sybase decided to write a new library called CT-LIB.
The basic functionalities are still there, but they are now covered in a
more ISO compliant and much more complex fashion.
For designing a web application, I don't think it makes an awful lot of
difference, especially if you are using a layer which is hiding much of
the actual implementation which is the case of PHP.
DB-LIB is still supported by Sybase, it's much simpler and generally
gives better execution time and less network traffic...