Your favorite database web-backend?

Posted on November 3rd, 2007, by James Yoneda

Rhode Island Tech Advice

I figure there's enough web developers on here to have some interesting recommendations and anecdotes. Anyone have a favorite database for a web-backend? Any that you despise? Any fun experiences worth mentioning?

I've used a bunch of the old standards in my time (SQL Server, MySQL,PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc) and I'm wondering what everyone else uses.

How about Firebird? Interbase? Lesser known DB's?

Comments

jwest

Submitted on November 8th, 2007 - 3:26pm link

I usually use MySQL, mostly because it's ubiquitous. I've never had any problems with it that made me want to move to another DB. You can get a lot done without having to spend a lot of time optimizing. And the sheer number of MySQL installations makes it easy to find help and how-tos.

I use DB2 at work. It's OK but it takes a lot of effort to become really good with administering it. Also, the DB2 tools are confusing and hard to use. The commercial versions are pricey but I think there's a community edition now (probably an IBM re-brand of an open-source DB, like they re-brand Geronimo as WebSphere Community Edition).

Apple uses SQLite for CoreData so there must be something there, but I don't have much experience with it.

advanceditri

Submitted on February 27th, 2008 - 3:44pm link

I've started using a new product called Alpha 5 where I am not a programmer by trade and it can interact with MYSQL, MSSQL, and Oracle as well as its own proprietary database if you don't have a server. Its an interesting product and may be worth taking a look at. I am working on getting a little more proficient with it and see if I can design some sites relatively quick for businesses.

jpamental

Submitted on March 13th, 2008 - 9:18pm link

I've used SQL Server quite a bit, and its' admin tools are really good. I think that actually the free version (SQL Server Express) is a pretty decent option, but MySQL has been great and version 5 finally has a good set of capabilities for stored procedures as well as better backup and replication options. PrimeBase used to be a standard for me because it was a good cross-platform option, but in recent years MySQL has gotten so much better on the Mac for development that I stopped using it (not to mention that MySQL is free and PrimeBase is not).

I do have to say that overall it's the admin tools that make SQL Server an attractive option more so than the actual DB engine itself. And for high volume reads and lower volume transactions, MySQL is more than adequate for just about all but the highest traffic loads (several million page views per month with multiple DB queries per page).

Jason

k00k

Submitted on April 2nd, 2008 - 8:37pm link

I've tried a bunch and always tend to turn to MySQL for ease and maintenance. MySQL with PHPmyAdmin is such a simple but effective combo in so many cases. However, I would recommend that you weigh the importance of OS and language interoperability with your DB decision.