SQL Anywhere vs SQLite

[Former Member]

Dear Experts,

What are the advantages of using SQL Anywhere or Ultralite when compared to SQLite.

[Vlad]

SQL Anywhere is the DB server;
Ultralite is the file-based DB (not server);
Ultralite can be synchronized with other DB servers (see Mobilink);
SQLite has a different purpose.

[Former Member]

Can you please explain a little. And what is the purpose of SQLite because I have read it is widely used as a DB for mobile applications.

[Vlad]

This is the biggest help that I can give you here for SQLite, because your question is not related to SAP products.
Here is my advice: https://www.sqlite.org/about.html

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Suberta,

As Vlad says, SQL Anywhere is a full client-server database intended for embedded and other resource-restricted environments. It is a lot more like PostgreSQL than like SQLite. SQL Anywhere can handle hundreds of concurrent database connections whereas SQLite cannot really handle more than a few. As the SQLite home page Vlad links to says: "Think of SQLite not as a replacement for Oracle but as a replacement for fopen()". So if you want a multi-user database system, SQL Anywhere is one and SQLite is not.

UltraLite is a lot more like SQLite: both are libraries. But the big difference for most of our users is that UltraLite has synchronization built in, meaning that it has a network client that understands the SQL Anywhere MobiLink synchronization protocol, that it tracks changes in the database so they can be synchronized properly, and it cleans up those changes after a successful sync. For SQLite you would have to do that work yourself as a developer.

Obviously those are very broad paragraphs and there is a lot more detail, but I hope they give you a starting point.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

compare anywhere agains postgres are very ignorant sing! but in any case

the sync its not a advantage, due not sync with others db's.. umm ultralite its more complicated, the only advantage its the sync?.. not so used today in a widelly connected world...

commercial or private. SQLite is the most widely deployed database in the world with more applications than we can count, including several high-profile projects.

as sqlite page said!

[Vlad · Accepted solution]

I have heard you, and I partially agree: https://www.sqlite.org/prosupport.html Free software is good until you need help.

[Breck_Carter · Accepted solution]

[Breck_Carter]

I have to (begrudgingly!) say, if half of what's said on the SQLite about page is true then it is a fine product... many of the points made are hot-button points with me, like "ACID after power loss" and "aircraft-grade testing" and "long-term support"... if SQL Anywhere becomes any more stealthy than it is now (and that trajectory seems clear), SQLite could be [cough] worth a look [choke].

signed, Breck Forever The SQL Anywhere Fanboy 🙂

[VolkerBarth]

Note however those SQL restrictions (additionally, I'm not sure about derived tables and OLAP support):

https://www.sqlite.org/omitted.html

Volker belongs to that fan group, too.

[Breck_Carter]

As Tom implied, a more useful comparison might be SQLite versus UltraLite, with reference to the "UltraLite" column in this table as well as some of the links on the same page.

[Vlad]

I can add that I like to read something interesting about in-memory and NoSql DBs, and I have read that people have taken the SQL engine+parser+whatever from SQLite and embed it into the own NoSql DB (no names, just a fact 🙂 ). So the time will show, whether this was wise or not.