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  5. HSQLDB vs MariaDB

HSQLDB vs MariaDB

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

MariaDB
MariaDB
Stacks16.5K
Followers12.8K
Votes468
GitHub Stars6.6K
Forks1.9K
HSQLDB
HSQLDB
Stacks449
Followers61
Votes0
GitHub Stars86
Forks37

HSQLDB vs MariaDB: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare the key differences between HSQLDB and MariaDB, two popular open-source relational database management systems.

  1. Deployment and Usage: HSQLDB is primarily used as an embedded database, which means it is typically included within an application and runs within the same process space. On the other hand, MariaDB is designed to be a standalone database server that can be used with multiple applications simultaneously.

  2. SQL Compatibility: While both HSQLDB and MariaDB support SQL standards, there are some differences in their SQL implementations. MariaDB, being a fork of MySQL, offers a higher level of compatibility with MySQL, making it easier to migrate applications from MySQL to MariaDB. HSQLDB has its own SQL dialect, which may require some modifications to existing SQL queries.

  3. Scalability and Performance: MariaDB is known for its excellent scalability and performance, especially in high-load scenarios. It supports advanced features like partitioning and clustering that allow it to handle large databases and heavy workloads efficiently. HSQLDB, on the other hand, is more suitable for small to medium-sized applications and may struggle with scaling up to handle very large datasets or high concurrencies.

  4. Supported Storage Engines: MariaDB offers a range of storage engines, including InnoDB (the default), MyRocks, Aria, and more. Each engine has its own strengths and weaknesses, allowing users to choose the most suitable one based on their specific requirements. HSQLDB, on the other hand, has a single storage engine (BTree) and does not provide as much flexibility in terms of storage options.

  5. Community and Ecosystem: MariaDB has a large and active community of users and contributors, ensuring regular updates, bug fixes, and new features. It also benefits from being part of the larger MySQL ecosystem, with a wide range of tools, libraries, and documentation available. HSQLDB, while still actively maintained, has a smaller community and may have fewer resources available for support and development.

  6. Licensing: HSQLDB is licensed under the modified BSD license, which allows for more permissive usage, modification, and redistribution of the software. MariaDB, on the other hand, is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which imposes certain obligations on users for sharing modifications and distributing the software.

In summary, HSQLDB is well-suited for embedded scenarios and smaller applications, while MariaDB offers more scalability, compatibility with MySQL, and a wider range of features, making it suitable for larger and high-performance applications.

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Advice on MariaDB, HSQLDB

Omran
Omran

CTO & Co-founder at Bonton Connect

Jun 19, 2020

Needs advice

We actually use both Mongo and SQL databases in production. Mongo excels in both speed and developer friendliness when it comes to geospatial data and queries on the geospatial data, but we also like ACID compliance hence most of our other data (except on-site logs) are stored in a SQL Database (MariaDB for now)

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Detailed Comparison

MariaDB
MariaDB
HSQLDB
HSQLDB

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.

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.

Replication;Insert Delayed;Events;Dynamic;Columns;Full-text;Search;GIS;Locale;Settings;subqueries;Timezones;Triggers;XML;Functions;Views;SSL;Show Profile
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
6.6K
GitHub Stars
86
GitHub Forks
1.9K
GitHub Forks
37
Stacks
16.5K
Stacks
449
Followers
12.8K
Followers
61
Votes
468
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 149
    Drop-in mysql replacement
  • 100
    Great performance
  • 74
    Open source
  • 55
    Free
  • 44
    Easy setup
No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available
Cloud 66
Cloud 66
Leftronic
Leftronic
Spring Boot
Spring Boot
Woopra
Woopra

What are some alternatives to MariaDB, HSQLDB?

MongoDB

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

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

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

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

SQLite

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

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

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.

RethinkDB

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

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.

InfluxDB

InfluxDB

InfluxDB is a scalable datastore for metrics, events, and real-time analytics. It has a built-in HTTP API so you don't have to write any server side code to get up and running. InfluxDB is designed to be scalable, simple to install and manage, and fast to get data in and out.

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