Relational Database

a.k.a. RDBMS (Relational Database Management System)

This document outline some considerations when choosing a RDBMS for your application.

MySQL

• Performant and Efficient JSON Support
  • More efficient JSON operations and storage compared to PostgreSQL
  • MySQL Documentation: JSON Data Type
• Built-in Replication
  • MySQL Documentation: Replication
• Multiple Storage Engines
  • InnoDB, MyISAM, Memory, CSV, Archive, Blackhole, NDB, etc.
  • MySQL Documentation: Storage Engines

PostgreSQL

tip

Neon provides free Postgres databases for development and testing purposes.

• Always ACID Compliant
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: Transaction Isolation
• Advanced Data Types
  • JSON, XML, Arrays, Range, Geometric, Network Address, Bit String, Text Search, UUID, etc.
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: Data Types
• Rich JSON Operations
  • More wide-ranging support for JSON operations compared to MySQL
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: JSON Types
• Table Inheritance
  • PostgreSQL Official Tutorial
• More Extensive Indexing Support
  • For efficient querying of complex data types
  • B-Tree, Hash, GiST, SP-GiST, GIN, and BRIN indexes
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: Index Types
• Full Support for SQL Standard Features
  • Window functions, common table expressions, lateral joins, etc.
  • Supports 170/177 mandatory features of the latest SQL:2023 standard
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: SQL Conformance
• Custom Data Types, Functions, and Operators
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: User-Defined Types
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: User-Defined Functions
  • PostgreSQL Documentation: User-Defined Operators

CockroachDB

TODO

SQLite

• Plain simple to use
• Might not be suitable for large-scale applications