8 Reviews and Ratings
2 Reviews and Ratings
If you need a SQL-capable database-like solution that is file-based and embeddable in your existing Java Virtual Machine processes, Apache Derby is an open-source, zero cost, robust and performant option. You can use it to store structured relational data but in small files that can be deployed right alongside with your solution, such as storing a set of relational master data or configuration settings inside your binary package that is deployed/installed on servers or client machines.Incentivized
For running application tests it's well suited. H2 [Database Engine] can replace the real-world database solution for them easily and removes the requirement to set up a a separate database instance just for running unit tests. For using in actual production application one needs to consider scale. H2 is suitable if application runs in single instance and database is located in same machine as a file where that application runs. This means the application shouldn't have a large user base. However it's easy to switch to an actual MySQL instance if the need arises, it's most likely only a configuration change and doesn't require new code.Incentivized
Apache Derby is SMALL. Compared to an enterprise scale system such as MSSQL, it's footprint is very tiny, and it works well as a local database.The SPEED. I have found that Apache Derby is very fast, given the environment I was developing in.Based in JAVA (I know that's an obvious thing to say), but Java allows you to write some elegant Object Oriented structures, thus allowing for fast, Agile test cases against the database.Derby is EASY to implement and can be accessed from a console with little difficulty. Making it appropriate for everything from small embedded systems (i.e. just a bash shell and a little bit of supporting libraries) to massive workstations.Incentivized
Can run as an in-memory database.Simple and quick to get started with, and is light weight (only 2MB).SQL compliant so it compatible with most relational databases.Incentivized
It may not scale as well as some more mature database products.Used it primarily from the command line with openjpa and jdbc, and from third-party clients such as Squirrel.May benefit by providing more sophisticated tools to optimize query performance.Incentivized
There's a warning in official FAQ "Is it Reliable?"-section which makes it seem like H2 is not yet a mature product.If raw SQL queries are used there maybe be differences between MySQL & H2. ORM library should be used.Support seems to be community-based only.Incentivized
SQLite is another open-source zero-cost file-based SQL-capable database solution and is a good alternative to Apache Derby, especially for non-Java-based solutions. We chose Apache Derby as it is Java-based, and so is the solution we embedded it in. However, SQLite has a similar feature set and is widely used in the industry to serve the same purposes for native solutions such as C or C++-based products.Incentivized
While both can run as an in-memory database, H2 Database Engine was just so much easier for us to use since we primarily use the Java stack and H2 Database Engine is also built with Java.Incentivized
Being Open source, the resources spent on the purchase of the product are ZERO.Contrary to popular belief, open source software CAN provide support, provided that the developers/contributors are willing to answer your emails.Overall, the ROI was positive: being able to experiment with an open source technology that could perform on par with the corporate products was promising, and gave us much information about how to proceed in the future.Incentivized
Doesn't take time from developers, once it's configs are set up for testing it works in everyone's development environmentsEasy to integrate in application, no need to setup separate database software, no maintenanceNo need to deal with infrastructure related issues/costs - database runs in same machine as the application that uses it.Incentivized