The Basics of N-Tier Development

With an n-tier application, you place only the code that is necessary to support the graphical user interface (GUI) within the Access application. You place all of the code that interacts with the database in middle-tier business objects, developed in an environment such as Microsoft Visual Basic and compiled as a Dynamic Link Library (.dll object). The advantages of this model are:

  • Improved scalability

  • Reusability

  • Shortened testing cycle

  • Improved maintainability

  • Greater flexibility

An n-tier architecture offers improved scalability because you can place the DLL on multiple servers and have various groups of users access each DLL. In fact, you can place the DLL under the control of Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) ...

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