Thanks everyone for there input. See below for the arguments I've compiled so far. Please let me know if I am incorrect on any of these items. Do we have any speed comparisons between SQLite and SQL Server 7?
I do understand we are talking Apples and Oranges here. Never the less, I need to do the comparison! If not, I might as well go get an MS certification (not that there's anything wrong with that... :-). SQLite Advocacy 1. SQLite has "Zero Installation". This means that all that is needed to run SQLite is to copy the database on the machine along with the program which accesses it. There is no need to adjust the registry for SQLite. Installing SQL Server 7 on the other hand is complex and sometimes problematic. Even moving SQL Server 7 to a different directory on the same machine is difficult. 2. An SQLite database is exactly one file. SQL Server 7 has many files for each table in the database. 3. SQLite is much faster than SQL Server 7. 4. SQLite is easy to administrate. All that is needed is to copy one database file. SQL Server 7 is very difficult for the novice end user to backup or to deploy database updates in the field. SQL Server 7 is best used for a centralized database (rather than a distributed database) since it is so hard to deploy data updates. 5. SQLite has an active community with good people which help each other solve rather complex programming problems. 6. SQL Server 7 is obsolete and the database is not upward compatible. When Microsoft discontinues support for SQL Server 7, it may no longer work on the latest Windows platform. SQL Server can no longer be purchased directly from Microsoft. 7. SQL server 7 is very expensive. Development tools and deployment license costs for SQL Server 7 are very high. SQLite is free and can be developed using free compilers or Microsoft compilers as desired. 8. SQL Server 7 requires powerful hardware to run. SQLite runs on cheaper hardware. 9. SQLite has a small memory footprint and SQL Server 7 is a very very large memory footprint. 10. SQLite runs on almost ever operating systems. SQL Server runs on MS Windows exclusively. 11. By using SQLite you eliminate a possible source of virus infection. SQL server has been targeted in at least one major virus outbreak. 12. Changes can be made to the source code for SQLite by the end user. In this way, any bugs in SQLite can be fixed quickly. If something was wrong with SQL Server 7, Microsoft is unlikely to address it as quickly. Microsoft has been known to sit on patches for years because it's inconvenient or costly to roll them out. 13. Open source and Free Software such as SQLite has proven to be more robust and more secure than proprietary software due to open, intense, and ongoing peer reviews by the user community. "Security through Obscurity" is regarded a fallacy in the cryptographic community at large. Shawn M. Downey MPR Associates 632 Plank Road, Suite 110 Clifton Park, NY 12065 518-371-3983 x3 (work) 860-508-5015 (cell)
