SQLite does have a data constraints feature and can edit or drop tables without loading them into memory.
SQLite works on the data stored on the disk and is slower compared to Core Data.
Core Data, on the other hand, does not have data constraints, and can be implemented using the app's business logic instead.
In order to update or drop a table, the entire table has to be loaded up.
Core Data is quick to create records/rows but slower to save the data.
Core Data does have another advantage where it operates and works in the memory, and the data has to be loaded from the disk to memory.
Core Data works with objects based in the memory, or can be accessed using the standard slower disk method.
Core Data will work on non-transactional, single user, or single-threaded methods. SQLite's function is to fetch and store data using its file database system. It operates by storing the data on the disk where the data is incrementally or minimally loaded.
Effectively, the data can be transactional, multiuse, and thread-safe. It saves data to the disk and is mostly resilient to crashes. It is slower if you have to create hundreds of thousands of rows, but it does have data constraints, such as unique keys.
SQLite has bindings to many languages such as Basic, C, C#, C++, Java, JavaScript, Lua, PHP, Objective-C, Python, Ruby, and TCL. Its popularity with the open source community and usage by customers and developers has enabled its growth to continue.
This lightweight RDMS can be used on Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Android browsers and has middleware support using ADO.NET
, ODBC, COM (ActiveX), and XULRunner. It also has a support for web application frameworks, such as Django (Python based), Ruby on Rails, and Bugzilla (Mozilla). There are other applications, such as Adobe Photoshop Light and Skype that use SQLite. It is also a part of Windows 8, Symbian OS, Android, and OpenBSD operating systems.
Apart from not having the large overheads of other database engines, SQLite has a major enhancement, known as the EXPLAIN
keyword, with its manifest typing.
For controlling constraint conflicts, the REPLACE
and ON CONFLICT
statements are used.
Within the same query, multiple independent databases can be accessed using the DETACH
and ATTACH
statements.
New SQL functions and collating sequences can be created using the predefined APIs, which offer much more flexibility.
As there is no configuration required, SQLite just does the job and works.
No lists, such as the REPLACE
and ON CONFLICT
procedures, are required.
There is no need to initialize, stop, restart, or start server processes, and no administrator is required to create the database with proper access controls or security permits.
After any failure, no user actions are required to recover the database, since it is self-repairing.
SQLite is more advanced than previously thought. Unlike other RDMS, it does not require a server setup via a server to serve up data or incur network traffic costs. There is no TCP/IP calls, nor frequent communication backward or forward.
SQLite is direct; the operating system process deals with database access to its file and controls database writes and reads with no middle-man process handshaking.
By having no server backend, the process of installation, configuration, or administration is reduced significantly, and access to the database is granted to programs that require this type of data operation. This is an advantage in one way, but it is also a disadvantage for security and protection from data-driven misuse, data concurrency, or data row locking mechanisms.
It also allows the database to be accessed several times by different applications at the same time.
It supports a form of portability for the cross platform database file that can be located with the database file structure. The database file can be updated on one system and copied to another on either 32 bit or 64 bit with different architectures; this does not make a difference to SQLite.
The usage of different architectures and the promises of developers to keep the file system stable and compatible with previous, current, and future developments will allow this database to grow and thrive. SQLite databases do not need to upload old data to new, formatted, and upgraded databases; it just works.
By having a single disk file for the database, the information can be copied on a USB and shared or just reused on another device very quickly by keeping all the information intact.
Another feature of this portable database, SQLite, is its size, which can start on a single 512-byte page and expand to 2,147,483,646 pages at 65,536 bytes per page, or in bytes 140,737,488,224,256, which equates to about 140 terabytes. Most other RDBMS are much larger, but IBM's Cloudscape is small, with a 2 MB jar file, but still larger than SQLite.
The Firebird alternative's client (frontend) library is about 350 KB, whereas the Berkeley Oracle database is around 450 KB, without the SQL support, and with one simple key/value pair's option.
This advanced portable database system and its source code is in the public domain. However, there are open source license issues and controls for some test code and documentation.
This is great news for developers who might want to code up new extensions or database functionality that works with their programs, which could be made into a "product extension" for SQLite.
You cannot have this sort of access to SQL source code around since everything has a patent, limited access, or just no access.
There are signed affidavits by developers to disown any copyright interest in the SQLite code. SQLite is different because it is just not governed or ruled by copyright law, which monitors the way a software should really work or be used.