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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Databases
  4. Databases
  5. Realm vs SQLite

Realm vs SQLite

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

SQLite
SQLite
Stacks19.9K
Followers15.2K
Votes535
Realm
Realm
Stacks279
Followers441
Votes16

Realm vs SQLite: What are the differences?

Introduction:

When it comes to choosing a database for mobile app development, two popular options often come up: Realm and SQLite. Both these databases have their own set of advantages and differences. In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Realm and SQLite.

  1. Data Model: One major difference between Realm and SQLite is the way they handle data models. In SQLite, you need to define a schema and create tables with predefined columns. This fixed schema makes it difficult to modify the data model as it requires altering the table structure. On the other hand, Realm allows developers to work with an object-oriented model, enabling them to define classes and use them as the data model. This flexibility makes it easier to modify the data model without the need for schema changes.

  2. Performance: Realm is known for its excellent performance compared to SQLite. Realm uses a unique architecture that allows for faster data access and query execution. Unlike SQLite, which relies on SQL queries, Realm uses a fast and efficient query engine that can perform complex queries more efficiently. Additionally, Realm provides real-time updating capabilities, making it ideal for apps that require frequent data updates or real-time syncing.

  3. Thread-safety: Another important difference between Realm and SQLite is their thread-safety behavior. SQLite operates in a single-threaded mode by default, meaning only one thread can access the database at a time. To work with SQLite in a multi-threaded environment, developers need to implement their own thread-safety mechanisms. On the other hand, Realm is designed to be thread-safe by default. It supports automatic thread-handling and provides a built-in synchronization mechanism, making it easier to work with concurrent operations.

  4. Platform Support: SQLite has been around for a long time and has widespread support across platforms. It is available for mobile platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows. Additionally, it can be used with a wide range of programming languages. Realm, on the other hand, initially started with support for iOS and later expanded to other platforms. Currently, Realm is available for Android, iOS, macOS, and other platforms, but its support for programming languages other than Swift and Java is limited.

  5. Stability and Maturity: SQLite is a well-established and mature database that has been widely used in production environments for many years. It has a proven track record of stability and reliability. Realm, being a relatively newer database, may not have the same level of stability and maturity as SQLite. However, Realm has gained popularity due to its ease of use, performance, and real-time updating features.

  6. Storage Size: The storage size of the database is another difference between Realm and SQLite. SQLite databases tend to be larger in size compared to Realm databases. This is because SQLite stores data in disk-based files, which can result in larger file sizes. Realm, on the other hand, uses a memory-mapped architecture that allows for efficient storage and retrieval of data. This can result in smaller database sizes, especially when dealing with large datasets.

In summary, Realm and SQLite differ in their data model flexibility, performance, thread-safety behavior, platform support, stability, and storage size. While SQLite offers a traditional SQL-based approach with wide platform support and stability, Realm provides ease of use, excellent performance, real-time updating capabilities, and smaller database sizes. The choice between Realm and SQLite depends on factors such as the specific requirements of the app, performance needs, concurrency requirements, and platform preferences.

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Advice on SQLite, Realm

Dimelo
Dimelo

Nov 5, 2020

Needs adviceonSQLiteSQLiteMySQLMySQLPostgreSQLPostgreSQL

I need to add a DBMS to my stack, but I don't know which. I'm tempted to learn SQLite since it would be useful to me with its focus on local access without concurrency. However, doing so feels like I would be defeating the purpose of trying to expand my skill set since it seems like most enterprise applications have the opposite requirements.

To be able to apply what I learn to more projects, what should I try to learn? MySQL? PostgreSQL? Something else? Is there a comfortable middle ground between high applicability and ease of use?

670k views670k
Comments
Stephen
Stephen

Senior DevOps Engineer at Vital Beats

Nov 9, 2020

Review

A question you might want to think about is "What kind of experience do I want to gain, by using a DBMS?". If your aim is to have experience with SQL and any related libraries and frameworks for your language of choice (python, I think?), then it kind of doesn't matter too much which you pick so much. As others have said, SQLite would offer you the ability to very easily get started, and would give you a reasonably standard (if a little basic) SQL dialect to work with.

If your aim is actually to have a bit of "operational" experience, in terms of things like what command line tools might be available as standard for the DBMS, understanding how the DBMS handles multiple databases, when to use multiple schemas vs multiple databases, some basic privilege management etc. Then I would recommend PostgreSQL. SQLite's simplicity actually avoids most of these experiences, which is not helpful to you if that is what you hope to learn. MySQL has a few "quirks" to how it manages things like multiple databases, which may lead you to making less good decisions if you tried to take your experience over to different DBMS, especially in bigger enterprise roles. PostgreSQL is kind of a happy middle ground here, with the ability to start PostgreSQL servers via docker or docker-compose making the actual day-to-day management pretty easy, while still giving you experience of the kinds of considerations I have listed above.

At Vital Beats we make use of PostgreSQL, largely because it offers us a happy balance between good management and backup of data, and good standard command line tools, which is essential for us where we are deploying our solutions within Kubernetes / docker, and so more graphical tools are not always appropriate for us. PostgreSQL is also pretty universally supported in terms of language libraries and frameworks, without having to make compromises on how we want to store and layout our data.

316k views316k
Comments
Anonymous
Anonymous

Oct 29, 2019

Needs advice

Hi everyone! I am a high school student, starting a massive project. I'm building a system for a boarding school to be better connected to their students and be more efficient with information. In the meantime, I am developing a website and an android app. What's the best datastore I can use? I need to be able to access student data on the app from the main database and send push notifications. Also feed updates. What's the best approach? What's the best tool I can use to deploy the website and the database? One for testing and prototyping, and an official one... Thanks in advance!!!!

366k views366k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

SQLite
SQLite
Realm
Realm

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.

The Realm Mobile Platform is a next-generation data layer for applications. Realm is reactive, concurrent, and lightweight, allowing you to work with live, native objects.

-
Feels like Home - Realm’s data structures look like the Objects and Arrays of your language, but provide additional features such as: querying, relationships & graphs, thread safety, and more.;Memory-Efficient - Realm is not built on SQLite. Instead, a custom C++ core is used to provide memory-efficient access to your data by using Realm objects, which usually consume less RAM than native objects.;F-F-Fast! - Realm offers extraordinary performance compared to SQLite and other persistence solutions.
Statistics
Stacks
19.9K
Stacks
279
Followers
15.2K
Followers
441
Votes
535
Votes
16
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 163
    Lightweight
  • 135
    Portable
  • 122
    Simple
  • 81
    Sql
  • 29
    Preinstalled on iOS and Android
Cons
  • 2
    Not for multi-process of multithreaded apps
  • 1
    Needs different binaries for each platform
Pros
  • 7
    Good
  • 3
    Cloud Syncing
  • 3
    Elegant API
  • 2
    React Native Support
  • 1
    Strong Adoption Growth
Cons
  • 1
    No offline support for web till now

What are some alternatives to SQLite, Realm?

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.

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.

MariaDB

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

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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