5 Reasons to use SQLite the tiny GIANT for your next project
SQLite database is a tiny giant in the SQL area with a fully-featured SQL database engine and billions of deployments.
1. Server-less and Cross-Platform
SQLite database is implemented on a single file with no additional server process or the need for complicated RDBMS to install. All the reads and writes operations are taking place directly on a single file.
Since the database is a self-contained file you can move or copy your database on every platform you like Linux, UNIX, windows and work perfectly with zero-configuration.
2. Maintenance
Maintenance, tuning, and setting up backup routines for enterprise RDBMS is hard and takes tons of money and working hours. SQLite comes with zero server-side software installation and minimum maintenance.
SQLite database needs an API, disk space to operate and a scheduled task to back up the database file with a simple copy-paste to a safe location.
3. Ideal for Prototype applications
When building prototype applications, we need tools that are stable, ready to fire, and tailored to our needs.
If our prototype app needs a relational database, SQLite is the best decision. All we have to do is to download the API for our project language, create a database file, and start working with tables, columns, and rows. OPTIONAL we candownload an SQLite studio for a visual view of the database.
4. Small to Μedium size Applications
Applications that not have massive concurrent requests for writing data can easily relay on SQLite, and this because in SQLite only one connection can open the database for writing, all other connections must wait in a queue.
For that reason, SQLite is excellent for reading and less for writing data.
Huge companies use SQLite for their products:
- Adobe
- AIRBUS
- Apple
- Dropbox
- etc.
5. Maturity
SQLite project was started in the year 2000 and since then it’s an active and maintainable project. There is a dedicated team that adds new features and solves bugs and issues.
Since the year 2000 SQLite has billions of deployments around the globe in different areas such as cars, airplanes, computers, etc.
These facts assure us that SQLite is a mature, tested, and mature product that we can rely on to build our applications.
Conclusion
SQLite is a fast, reliable, and zero-configuration database. We don’t need to install an enterprise RDBMS for every app we build, just use sqlite3 API and a database file to get started.