[DB-SIG] a simple question on rdbms and berkeley db

Mon May 5 23:14:09 EDT 2003

 From http://www.skippingdot.net/2002/02/04
----
No support for SQL at all. From the FAQ:

/Berkeley DB does not support a schema layer or an SQL query interface, 
nor does it support ODBC or JDBC./

Digging a little deeper, check out What Berkeley DB Is Not 
<http://www.sleepycat.com/docs/sleepycat/license.html> in the online 
documentation. Excerpt:

/Berkeley DB is not a relational system. Relational database systems are 
semantically rich and offer high-level database access. Compared to such 
systems, Berkeley DB is a high-performance, transactional library for 
record storage. It's possible to build a relational system on top of 
Berkeley DB. In fact, the popular MySQL relational system uses Berkeley 
DB for transaction-protected table management, and takes care of all the 
SQL parsing and execution. It uses Berkeley DB for the storage level, 
and provides the semantics and access tools./
-----
Basically, berkeley does one simple thing: It stores strings under a 
key. If you need more complicated functions (such as tables with 
columns, a client/server architecture, query language... you need some 
kind of SQL database.
Also, the license is a bit restrictive, although this might not be a 
problem if your app is open source or private.

ali wrote:

>a simple question on rdbms and berkeley db....
>
>i needed a database for a simple message board that i am creating using
>python... then there was a question on databases??? i first considered
>firebird and was actually working well... and i came across berkely db...
>and i really got confused...
>
>my question is, what is the difference between rdbms and berkeley db or even
>gdb and others of the same genre???
>
>another question, in my simple web-based message board?? what database is
>the most appropriate??
>
>or am i wrong in assuming they are different...
>
>i'm new to databases, please be gentle with me... :)
>
>thanks...
>ali
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>DB-SIG maillist  -  DB-SIG at python.org
>http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/db-sig
>  
>