Documentation Source Text

<title>Features Of SQLite</title>

<h1 align=center>Features Of SQLite</h1>

<p><ul>
<li><a href="transactional.html">Transactions</a>
    are atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable (ACID)
    even after system crashes and power failures.</li>
<li><a href="zeroconf.html">Zero-configuration</a>
     - no setup or administration needed.</li>
<li>[Full-featured SQL] implementation
    with advanced capabilities like [partial indexes],
    [indexes on expressions], [json1|JSON],
    and [common table expressions].
    [common table expressions], and [window functions].
    (<a href="omitted.html">Omitted features</a>)</li>
<li>A complete database is stored in a 
    <a href="onefile.html">single cross-platform disk file</a>.
    Great for use as an [application file format].</li>
<li>Supports terabyte-sized databases and gigabyte-sized strings
    and blobs.  (See <a href="limits.html">limits.html</a>.)
<li>Small code [footprint]: 

<p>
The SQLite [file format] is stable, cross-platform, and
backwards compatible and the developers pledge to keep it
that way through at least the year 2050.  SQLite database
files are commonly uses as a container to transfer rich 
content between systems
[affshort|&#91;1&#93;]
[SQLAR|&#91;2&#93;]
[appformat|&#91;2&#93;]
[appformat|&#91;3&#93;]
and as a long-term archival format 
for data
[recommended storage format|&#91;3&#93;].
[recommended storage format|&#91;4&#93;].
There are over 1 trillion SQLite databases in active use.

<p>
SQLite [https://sqlite.org/src|source code]
is in the [public-domain] and is free to 
everyone to use for any purpose.

<p>
Git allows you to go backwards in time easily.  Given the latest
check-in on a branch, Git lets you see all the ancestors of that
check-in.  But Git makes it difficult to move in the other
direction.  Given some historical check-in, it is quite challenging
in Git to find out what came next.  It can be done, but it is sufficiently
difficult and people rarely do it.  Common interfaces for Git,
difficult that people rarely do it.  Common interfaces for Git,
such as GitHub, do not support the ability.

<p>It is not impossible to find the descendents of a check-in
in Git.  It is merely difficult.  For example,
there is a 
[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27960605/find-all-the-direct-descendants-of-a-given-commit#27962018|stackoverflow page]
showing the command sequence for finding the descendents of a check-in

but that introduces another third-party dependency and a
centralized service, which mitigate the key advantage of Git
which is that it is "distributed".  There are various free
alternatives to GitHub, such as GitLab, but those too have
a lot of dependencies and require a lot of server setup.

<p>
In contrast, Fossil is a single standalone binary which one
installs by placing it to $PATH.  That one binary contains all
In contrast, Fossil is a single standalone binary which is
installed by putting it on $PATH.  That one binary contains all
the functionality of core Git and also GitHub and/or GitLab.  It
manages a community server with wiki and bug tracking, provides
packaged downloads for consumers, login managements, and so forth,
with no extra software required.
manages a community server with wiki, bug tracking, and forums, 
provides packaged downloads for consumers, login managements, 
and so forth, with no extra software required.

<p>
Less administration means that programmers spend more time working
on the software (SQLite in this case) and less time fussing with
the version control system.

<h2>Git provides a poor user experience</h2>