H2 Database vs HSQLDB

Overview

H2 Database

Stacks1.3K

Followers121

Votes0

HSQLDB

Stacks449

Followers61

Votes0

GitHub Stars86

Forks37

H2 Database vs HSQLDB: What are the differences?

H2 Database and HSQLDB are both popular relational database management systems. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Data Types and Functions: H2 Database supports a wider range of data types and functions compared to HSQLDB. It offers various additional data types such as UUID, ARRAY, and ROW, and supports more built-in functions for string manipulation, date and time operations, and mathematical computations. This can be beneficial when working with complex data or performing advanced calculations.
Concurrency Control: H2 Database provides more advanced concurrency control mechanisms than HSQLDB. It supports multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), which allows multiple transactions to access and modify the same data concurrently without conflicts. MVCC provides better concurrency and scalability compared to the lock-based concurrency control used by HSQLDB.
Performance: H2 Database is generally known for its better performance compared to HSQLDB. It is designed to be lightweight and fast, utilizing in-memory storage and optimized algorithms. H2 Database also supports various performance optimizations, such as using indexes efficiently and providing a query optimizer to enhance query execution. These performance improvements can lead to faster data retrieval and manipulation.
Compatibility and Portability: HSQLDB has better compatibility and portability compared to H2 Database. HSQLDB is fully compliant with the SQL standards, which makes it easier to migrate existing applications from other databases. It also provides a wide range of JDBC driver options that enable compatibility with different programming languages and frameworks. On the other hand, H2 Database may require more adjustments and changes when migrating from other database systems.
Advanced Features: H2 Database offers more advanced features compared to HSQLDB. It supports features like full-text search, in-memory database replication, and federated queries. H2 Database also provides built-in support for database encryption, allowing you to secure your data at rest. These additional features can be useful for certain application requirements that demand advanced functionality.
Community and Support: HSQLDB has a larger and more established community compared to H2 Database. It has been around for a longer time and has a dedicated user base. This can result in better community support, more resources, and a larger knowledge base available to developers using HSQLDB. H2 Database, although growing in popularity, may have a comparatively smaller community.

In summary, H2 is known for its speed, feature-rich SQL support, and support for multiple database modes, while HSQLDB, being lightweight, offers simplicity and ease of use in embedded applications.

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Detailed Comparison

H2 Database	HSQLDB
It is a relational database management system written in Java. It can be embedded in Java applications or run in client-server mode.	It offers a small, fast multi-threaded and transactional database engine with in-memory and disk-based tables and supports embedded and server modes. It includes a powerful command line SQL tool and simple GUI query tools.
-	Original code, based on in-depth study of database theory and the SQL Standard; Extensive syntax compatibility modes for porting from other database systems; The fastest overall open-source SQL implementation for small and medium sized databases; Three transaction control models, including lock based and MVCC models; Fully multi-threaded; Compact code footprint
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 86
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 37
Stacks 1.3K	Stacks 449
Followers 121	Followers 61
Votes 0	Votes 0
Integrations
No integrations available	Cloud 66 Leftronic Spring Boot Woopra

What are some alternatives to H2 Database, HSQLDB?

MongoDB

MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents that can vary in structure, offering a dynamic, flexible schema. MongoDB was also designed for high availability and scalability, with built-in replication and auto-sharding.

MySQL

The MySQL software delivers a very fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL (Structured Query Language) database server. MySQL Server is intended for mission-critical, heavy-load production systems as well as for embedding into mass-deployed software.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system that supports an extended subset of the SQL standard, including transactions, foreign keys, subqueries, triggers, user-defined types and functions.

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft® SQL Server is a database management and analysis system for e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions.

SQLite

SQLite is an embedded SQL database engine. Unlike most other SQL databases, SQLite does not have a separate server process. SQLite reads and writes directly to ordinary disk files. A complete SQL database with multiple tables, indices, triggers, and views, is contained in a single disk file.

Cassandra

Partitioning means that Cassandra can distribute your data across multiple machines in an application-transparent matter. Cassandra will automatically repartition as machines are added and removed from the cluster. Row store means that like relational databases, Cassandra organizes data by rows and columns. The Cassandra Query Language (CQL) is a close relative of SQL.

Memcached

Memcached is an in-memory key-value store for small chunks of arbitrary data (strings, objects) from results of database calls, API calls, or page rendering.

MariaDB

Started by core members of the original MySQL team, MariaDB actively works with outside developers to deliver the most featureful, stable, and sanely licensed open SQL server in the industry. MariaDB is designed as a drop-in replacement of MySQL(R) with more features, new storage engines, fewer bugs, and better performance.

RethinkDB

RethinkDB is built to store JSON documents, and scale to multiple machines with very little effort. It has a pleasant query language that supports really useful queries like table joins and group by, and is easy to setup and learn.

ArangoDB

A distributed free and open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values. Build high performance applications using a convenient SQL-like query language or JavaScript extensions.

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H2 Database vs HSQLDB: What are the differences?

H2 Database and HSQLDB are both popular relational database management systems. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Data Types and Functions: H2 Database supports a wider range of data types and functions compared to HSQLDB. It offers various additional data types such as UUID, ARRAY, and ROW, and supports more built-in functions for string manipulation, date and time operations, and mathematical computations. This can be beneficial when working with complex data or performing advanced calculations.
Concurrency Control: H2 Database provides more advanced concurrency control mechanisms than HSQLDB. It supports multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), which allows multiple transactions to access and modify the same data concurrently without conflicts. MVCC provides better concurrency and scalability compared to the lock-based concurrency control used by HSQLDB.
Performance: H2 Database is generally known for its better performance compared to HSQLDB. It is designed to be lightweight and fast, utilizing in-memory storage and optimized algorithms. H2 Database also supports various performance optimizations, such as using indexes efficiently and providing a query optimizer to enhance query execution. These performance improvements can lead to faster data retrieval and manipulation.
Compatibility and Portability: HSQLDB has better compatibility and portability compared to H2 Database. HSQLDB is fully compliant with the SQL standards, which makes it easier to migrate existing applications from other databases. It also provides a wide range of JDBC driver options that enable compatibility with different programming languages and frameworks. On the other hand, H2 Database may require more adjustments and changes when migrating from other database systems.
Advanced Features: H2 Database offers more advanced features compared to HSQLDB. It supports features like full-text search, in-memory database replication, and federated queries. H2 Database also provides built-in support for database encryption, allowing you to secure your data at rest. These additional features can be useful for certain application requirements that demand advanced functionality.
Community and Support: HSQLDB has a larger and more established community compared to H2 Database. It has been around for a longer time and has a dedicated user base. This can result in better community support, more resources, and a larger knowledge base available to developers using HSQLDB. H2 Database, although growing in popularity, may have a comparatively smaller community.

In summary, H2 is known for its speed, feature-rich SQL support, and support for multiple database modes, while HSQLDB, being lightweight, offers simplicity and ease of use in embedded applications.