nalaka / db42

An experimental, in-process SQL database engine for monolithic web applications, written in Go with no external dependencies.

db42

Package db42 is an experimental, in-process SQL database engine inspired by SQLite. Although db42 uses the SQLite file format, it is written entirely from scratch in Go with minimal external dependencies. It aims to support features like row-level locking and the subset of SQL essential for monolithic web applications like praja-dev/porgs.

Initial design decisions

Positioning:

• Does not try to emulate SQLite. Instead, aims to provide a simple, reliable, and performant database engine tailored for monolithic web applications written in Go lang.
• Support only a subset of SQL statements, defined by the requirement for porgs.
• Excellent support for row-level locking.

Database file format:

• Use the SQLite file format. Database files created by db42 should open in SQLite but the reverse is not required.

Behavior:

• When a database file is opened, acquire an exclusive non-blocking lock, allowing other processes to read but not write to the file. Application using db42 is expected to open the database file at startup and maintain the lock until shutdown.
• Use only WAL (Write-Ahead Logging) mode.

Hygiene:

• Depend only on the Go standard library and golang.org/x/* packages.

Release plan

Version 1 of db42 is when it can replace SQLite in praja-dev/porgs. This is at least a year away.