Which Edition of Data Abstract is Right for You?
Having decided that you are interested in Data Abstract, you may be wondering which version is the best fit for you. Data Abstract supports creating apps for all the major platforms, be they Desktop or Mobile. You will be able to target Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Linux, Java-based platforms, and more.
To achieve that, Data Abstract was developed from scratch for each of the 5 development platforms it supports to harness that platform's power and to ensure that you do not have to worry about any platform-isms carrying over from one platform to another. For example, you won't have to deal with .NET-isms when you are working in Cocoa, or Java-isms when you are working in .NET.
| Edition | Platforms | Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Data Abstract for .NET | Supports creating client apps for Windows (Desktop and Modern) and Windows Phone, as well as other platforms running .NET or Mono. | .NET 2.0 and up, Compact Framework 2.0, Mono 2.6 and up, as well as Silverlight. Use C#, Visual Basic, Oxygene or Swift |
| Data Abstract for Cocoa | Supports creating native client apps for Mac, iOS, watchOS and tvOS | Native Cocoa, using Objective-C and Swift, as well as Oxygene, RemObjects C# and Silver in Elements |
| Data Abstract for Java | Supports development of native Android clients and other Java environments | The Java language, as well as Oxygene, RemObjects C# and Silver in Elements |
| Data Abstract for Delphi | Supports 32 & 64-bit VCL and FireMonkey applications for Windows, and Mac OS X FireMonkey applications. Linux is supported through Free Pascal and Lazarus | Use Object Pascal, with Delphi 7 and later or Free Pascal |
| Supports creating rich web clients that communicate with either custom Data Abstract servers created in .NET or Delphi, or an instance of Relativity Server | JavaScript and just about every web development tool |
Generally speaking, you would choose the package based on programing tool/language that you want to develop in and are familiar with, along with the the platform you wish to deploy too.
In general, we recommend using the platform-native tools for each platform – e.g. DA/Cocoa with Xcode or Elements for iOS and Mac development, or DA/Java with Java or Elements for Android development. Both DA/.NET and DA/Delphi are good candidates for creating Windows apps.
Each platform edition of Data Abstract can be purchased individually at $999, or you can get all five platforms in one package, alongside support for custom server development, at $1699. Site and volume licenses are also available.
Check out our Online Shop Page for more details.
Server Development
Custom servers can be developed using Data Abstract for .NET (capable of running on Windows, Linux and Mac) and for Delphi (capable of running on Windows).
We recommend Data Abstract for .NET for custom server development, because it has the wider range of target platforms and drivers, and provides access to more advanced features (for all clients), such as DA SQL. If you can avoid it altogether, we recommend considering using the freely deployable Relativity Server over building your own custom server. See Choosing a Server Type for details.
Please note that the All Platforms Edition of Data Abstract is required for custom server development.