March 27, 2019
4min Read
Edward S.
A core part of any website or development design is the database. There are several databases available on the market. SQLite, as well as MySQL, are equally popular open source databases. In this article, we’ll break down the essential differences between the two and help you understand the two – SQLite vs MySQL.
The database management system also referred to as a DBMS is often called RDBMS. RDBMS stands for Relational Database management system. At the most rudimentary level, all databases are used to manage, maintain, and manipulate data.
Data models can be one of two:
A DBMS is a software that interacts with a database. It facilitates several operations over the databases it manages. A few of these operations are:
In most cases, database and DBMS are used interchangeably. However, a database is a collection of stored data while a DBMS is the software used to access the database.
Every DBMS has an underlying model which decides the structure of the database and how the data can be retrieved. A relational DBMS uses the relational data model. Here data is organized in the form of tables. Each table has a set of attributes or columns, and each row also referred to as tuples have a relation. Owing to this, the structuring is referred to as RDBMS.
To work on a RDBMS, you have to use SQL or Structured Query Language. Each RDBMS has a different dialect.
SQLite, as well as MySQL, are open source RDBMS. Let’s deep dive into their differences.
SQLite is a server-less database and is self-contained. This is also referred to as an embedded database which means the DB engine runs as a part of the app.
On the other hand, MySQL requires a server to run. MySQL will require a client and server architecture to interact over a network.
SQLite supports these datatypes: Blob, Integer, Null, Text, Real.
MySQL supports the below-mentioned datatypes:
Tinyint, Smallint, Mediumint, Int, Bigint, Double, Float, Real, Decimal, Double precision, Numeric, Timestamp, Date, Datetime, Char, Varchar, Year, Tinytext, Tinyblob, Blob, Text, MediumBlob, MediumText, Enum, Set, Longblob, Longtext.
As you can tell, MySQL is a lot more flexible when it comes to data types.
The SQLite library is about 250 KB in size, while the MySQL server is about 600 MB. The SQLite directly stores info in a single file, making it easy to copy. No configurations are required, and the process ca be done using minimal support.
Before copying or exporting MySQL you need to condense it into a single file. For larger databases, this will be a time-consuming activity.
SQLite does not have any specific user management functionality and hence is not suitable for multiple user access. MySQL has a well-constructed user management system which can handle multiple users and grant various levels of permission.
SQLite is suitable for smaller databases. As the database grows the memory requirement also gets larger while using SQLite. Performance optimization is harder when using SQLite. This has a few write constraints.
On the contrary, MySQL is easily scalable and can handle a bigger database with less effort.
SQLite does not have an inbuilt authentication mechanism. The database files can be accessed by anyone. However, MySQL comes with a lot of inbuilt security features. This includes authentication with a username, password, and SSH.
SQLite does not require too many configurations and is easy to set up. MySQL requires more configurations as compared to SQLite. MySQL also has more setup guides available.
There are certain times when SQLite can be more effective than the alternative. Some of these scenarios are:
Below are a few scenarios where MySQL is the superior option:
Let’s quickly sum up the essential differences between the two options:
Advantages of SQLite:
Disadvantages of SQLite:
Advantages of MySQL:
Disadvantages of MySQL:
That’s all. We learned what a DBMS, RDBMS, and the difference between SQLite and MySQL is! Both have slight architectural and feature differences. At the end of the day, only you can decide what works best for your project. We hope that you can now make a more informed decision! Happy developing!
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