Databases

Databases are at the very heart of Airsequel. This section has the goal of familiarizing you with the way databases are handled inside Airsequel.

Why we picked SQLite

SQLite is the most deployed database worldwide for good reason:

• Fast: 35% Faster Than The Filesystem
  • Especially when mapping GraphQL queries to SQL queries: Many Small Queries Are Efficient In SQLite
• Stable:
  • Quality Management
  • How SQLite Is Tested
• Highly reliable: High Reliability
• Fully-featured: SQL As Understood By SQLite
• Supported until at least 2050: Long Term Support
• Legal backing: Only database recommended for long-term archival by the US Library of Congress
• Widely used in enterprise: Well-Known Users of SQLite
• Fully open source: SQLite Is Public Domain
• Self-contained: SQLite is a Self Contained System

Check out the official documentation for even more details: sqlite.org/whentouse

Database Lifecycle

Our primary goal is to help you make the most out of SQLite. We want to make all of SQLite's features easily accessible through our app/GUI.

When you create or upload a SQLite database to Airsequel, we take great care to keep the file intact and modify the data in only the most straight forward way. You can export the database at any time, work on it using your favorite local tools, and then upload it again later.

However, some important features we need for Airsequel are not supported directly by SQLite:

• Changing the order of tables or columns
• Storing meta information about tables or columns
• Storing extra data for our charts, dashboards, apps, and cloud function features.

For this reason, we create another database called metadata.sqlite for each user database to hold all this information.

Visibility of Databases

• Anonymously created databases:
  • Are public and expire in 10 days
  • Can be assigned to a team
• Databases created by authenticated users are private by default, but can be made public subsequently