Introduction
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| SQLite is an embeddable SQL-driven database engine that implements both the database engine and its interface as a C/C++ library. Started in 2000 by D. Richard Hipp, it was written from the ground up and contains absolutely no legacy code, and the SQLite source code has been in the public domain since the first prerelease of version 2.0 in 2001. The primary design goals when SQLite was conceived were that it should be
The fact that SQLite is small, fast, and reliablearguably its greatest strengthsis, according to Hipp, a happy coincidence. He concentrated on making SQLite simple, and reliability is a byproduct of having fewer things to go wrong. Having simpler code in the database engine makes it much easier to optimize. Note The acronym SQL is sometimes pronounced sequel, although in common usage it is most often said as three letters. SQLite, however, is pronounced sequel-lite by its creatorin the same way that Microsoft SQL Server is usually pronounced sequel-serverand therefore that is how we have assumed it is said in this book. As we will refer to a SQLite database and an SQL statement, it will help if you are used to hearing them this way as you read on. SQLite is already widely used in many projects, and its popularity looks set to continue growing. At the time of writing, version 3 of SQLite is close to completion and a stable release is expected to be available by the end of 2004. Note Some of the projects that use SQLite are catalogued at http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=SqliteUsers, and you are encouraged to add details of your own projects here too. Because SQLite 3 has a new API and a new database file format, this book deals primarily with version 2 because it is already available, stable, and well supported. The new features of SQLite 3 are covered in Appendix I, "The Future of SQLite." |
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