Developer benefits
Support
Since Microsoft Access ranks as one of the best-selling desktop databases, you can be sure that support will be available far into the future. There are more support and development consultants experienced in Access than any other desktop database system.
RAD
Microsoft Access is the best tool available for Rapid Application Development. One of the features of Access is its object oriented model which provides for the development of appealing, highly functional and easy to use applications in a minimal amount of time.
Software Integration
Since Access is a Microsoft product, it has been designed to integrate well with other products in the Microsoft Office Suite. Access is such a widely used database system that other software manufacturers are more likely to provide the ability to interface directly to Access than any other desktop database system.
ODBC Compliant
Access has the ability to use data stored in Access/Jet, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and other ODBC compliant data containers including MySQL and PostgreSQL. Software developers and data architects have used Access to easily develop application software. Non-programmers, also known as “power users” can use Access to build simple applications. While some object-oriented techniques are supported, it falls short of being a fully object-oriented development tool.
Templates
Microsoft provides various database templates that can be downloaded from their web site including tracking contacts, assets, issues, events, projects and tasks. These templates allow users to quickly use and enhance a database with pre-defined tables, queries, forms, reports and macros. However, it is important to note that the templates do not include VBA code.
User Modifications
Access provides the ability to create a “compiled” MDE or ACCDE (Access 2007) version of an Access database which prevents users from getting to the design code and modifying module code, forms and/or reports. This is especially useful when you want to restrict user modifications or you want the application code to remain private.
JET
The Microsoft Jet database engine is a data manager upon which database systems, such as Microsoft Access, are built. The underlying Jet database is able to easily handle record locking and referential integrity along with cascading updates and deletes. In Access, data is locked at the record level; however Excel locks the entire spreadsheet which prevents concurrent use by multiple users.