In this article, we are going to discuss a different database for web development. So we just hope you must be familiar with the web development term. If not let me give you a brief about it. Web development is the process of creating websites and maintaining them also. It has various steps like web site design, website publishing, database management, and web programming. But my concern in this article is only related to databases. In the next subsections, we will be describing what is a database and why there is a need for using it.

What is a database and what is its need?

A database is basically considered as an application that stores data collection. There are other ways to store the data are also available like File System or Hash tables. Rather we do use database more as data fetching is quite easy and fast in it. For example, the photo gallery present in your mobile phone is a type of database, the documents saved in your phone system in form of My files or either on a laptop comes under the category of the database. So we can say we can find databases around us. But in the recent scenario, we do use RDBMS that is a Relational database Management system that helps you in managing and storing a large amount of data.

Why your website requires a database?

If your website has a type of content that changes from time to time you require a database. You need databases to store images, articles, different types of information, and page layouts. On saving data in the database it is easy to access it online using server-side languages like PHP or JSP. For example, you are having a website related to products whose prices keep on changing. In these sorts of websites, you can use databases that save your lot of time by quickly doing updations. It is very difficult for a single employee to update a complete web page by hand. So you can use the database in such situations.  In the case of an eCommerce website and user-driven content, you need a database.

Why there is a need to integrate databases with websites?

You need your website to connect to the database when the website contains dynamic information. In these cases you want your website to be more interactive. So the term database integration comes into light. Database integration is the process of combining your website with a database. In such cases, the other users who access that website can add, remove, or update database information using a web browser. Nowadays database integrated websites consist of the back-end database. For example, on the eCommerce website, the integrated database consists of information on the product, prices, discount, etc. In the case of a database, it is very important to have a secure environment.

The database of the website can be considered as a room in some office having files and sensitive data stored in it related to some specific project. To organize and store the data of the website you need a database. But you have to be very careful about the thing that which database suits you better according to website needs because your website can have sensitive information also. Let’s study these all in detail and find out the upsides and downsides related to each of these databases.

Also Read: PHP eCommerce Frameworks

Microsoft SQL Server

The latest version of this database is the Microsoft SQL server 2019. The database supports SQL language and is written in C and C++. This is a widely used Relational database released in 1989. It can work on Windows and Linux. Different versions available are Azure SQL, enterprise edition, and Compact edition. Few other features are:

  • Performance enriched
  • Easy integration with Hadoop
  • Makes use of data compression technique
  • Graphic integration
  • Platform dependent
  • High security
  • Workload management
  • Object Explorer

Oracle SQL

This database is written in C, C++, and Java which are assembly languages. It is a very popular database. This is a well-documented secure database for web development that uses less storage space. The new version of this database is 19c but in few companies, the older version 11g, and 12c are used. The database is quite powerful as it processes data at a faster rate. Few other features are as follows:

  • Database security, high availability, and performance
  • Supports SQL and JSON
  • Easy to use and robust
  • Provides PDF storage, key-value storage, and cloud functionality
  • Supports multiple platforms

Microsoft Access

This is a paid database for web development or you can have a trial version for 60 days. It is quite similar to MySQL. It provides a complete package that has a DBMS and a design tool. This database doesn’t support flexibility. With help of this database, you can design tables and can check the syntax later which will be created automatically.  It is useful only for websites which have low traffic. You can make use of it for learning purposes. Few other properties of it are:

  • Needs one installation for both DBMS and design
  • Provides a combination of Microsoft Jet database to GUI and software development tools
  • Compatible with circumscribed windows

MySQL

This database uses SQL for data processing. It is a relational database management system that is open source. This database is written in C and C++ languages. Many big companies like Facebook, Adobe, and Google make use of this database. Nowadays MySQL 8.0 is in use. This database is now under Sun Microsystems acquisition. Few other features of it are:

  • Option of recovery
  • Different editions are available like free and commercial
  • Supports other languages like Perl, Python, and PHP
  • Provides database size having approximately 50 million rows
  • Run-on FreeBSD and Solaris also
  • Supports Intuitive Graphical interface
  • Provides security, flexibility, and reliability
  • Supports replication and transactions

Mongo DB

This database can be used for applications that are mobile-based. You can use this database for analytics and IoT purposes. It is a cross-platform database written in the C++ language. It supports real-time database views. The data stored in this database is of JSON format which enhances the speed of Mongo DB. It is NoSQL which makes use of internal memory. This database handles data in large amounts and provides high performance. It keeps data structure simple and data retrieval is efficient. The other features of it are:

  • Easy query optimization
  • Simpler Failure Administration
  • Compatible with JSON
  • Supports various languages like Scala, Java, and Groovy
  • Used for data and item storage
  • Provides auto sharding, flexibility, and scalability

SQLite

This database is self-contained and not uses the server. The database is featured and mostly used database engine. This database doesn’t require setup or administration at all. It uses a single disk file for a complete database. The database is made in C language. It is a widely used database in mobile phones. This database can handle the size up to 1 TB. Few other features are:

  • Supports Zero configurations
  • Provides no external dependencies
  • Supportive for WinCE
  • Highly reliable and fast
  • Used to transfer content
  • Its source code is available free

PostgreSQL

This database is made in C language. Users make use of this database for the NoSQL database it is a very popular open-source database that is object-relational. The database is suitable for large amounts of data. It is used for apps related to gaming, registries of the domain, and automation tools. It is platform-independent. Apple, Skype, and Cisco use this database for web development frequently. It maintains data integrity and high scalability. This database can interact with multiple servers and provides data that is also portable. It makes use of tablespaces and joins.  Several other features are:

  • Better for single-machine applications
  • Provides broader functionality
  • Helpful in making a fault-tolerant system
  • Provides data protection
  • Supports JSON
  • Enhanced security and recovery mechanism
  • Custom query methods and data types
  • Provides robustness and Quick response

SAP HANA

This database is used for processing various events. You can use this big database system for the analysis of database services. The database is an in-memory database that enhances performance. This database is enterprise-ready which serves approximately 32000 users. It is a column-oriented database that you can use for analytics. The database supports various types of data and models. It can combine both OLAP and OLTP systems. Other features are:

  • Mostly preferred by developers and designers
  • Increases speed of data-driven actions and decisions
  • Helps in advance analysis
  • Supports transaction process
  • Provides data mining, predictions, and data warehouse facility

Elasticsearch

It is used by companies like Github, StackOverflow, and Wikipedia. The database for web development is an analytical search engine that uses the Lucene library. It is also open source and distributed that provides a search of the full text. This database uses HTTP interface and JSON formats. It doesn’t use schema at all. You can use it for replications of shards and indexes. It supports both structured and unstructured data. It provides high performance. Some other features of it as follows:

  • Multitenant and distributed search engine
  • Supports Java
  • Supports scalability
  • Provides fast searching
  • Well Documented

IBM DB2

This database supports Object-relational, nonobject relational, and relational models. It uses JSON and XML formats. The new version of this database is 11.5. This database can handle complex data and provides AI capabilities. You can use it for SQL and NoSQL data models. It is compatible with a private environment. Few other features are:

  • Supports cloud environment
  • Used mostly by IBM environments
  • Can run on various platforms
  • Supports various editions
  • Compatible with data science languages
  • Easy accessibility and installation

SQL

This database uses SQL (Structured Query Language) in order to store data. It supports structure data formatting. The main advantage of it is the relational structure that is available to use for tables. The data point is considered a row and called a record. The column is called the property of row. It is used frequently by MySQL. The database allows you to access it and do operations on it.  Few other features of it are:

  • Compatible with data access in raw format
  • Used by MariaDB, CouchDB, and PostgreSQL
  • Supports insertion, deletion, updating, and retrieval
  • Availability of different versions
  • The standard language for RDBMS
  • Supports optimization of database

ClusterControl

Using this database tool, it is straightforward to automate MYSQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB. You can use this database for various business-related operations. It provides the facility for backup and virtualization. It is a sort of management without any agent. With the use of a user interface, you can manage and scale databases. Other properties are:

  • Supports relational interface
  • Provides data replication
  • Easy to use GUI
  • Provides support to the replication of MySQL and Galera cluster
  • Deployment is automatic
  • Compatible with SQL benchmark
  • Availability of backup scheduling

CouchDB

The database is an open-source that was developed by the Apache foundation. The database uses NoSQL. It is also called a multi-master application. The database uses JSON for the storage of data and JavaScript for processing the query. If you are using CouchDB you are available with a flexible data structure.   Other features are:

  • Easy to use and understand
  • Uses HTTP-based REST API
  • Provides mapping of data
  • Easy data exchange between machine and database
  • Data safety
  • Uses couch replication protocol
  • Supports binary form of data

MariaDB

This is an open-source that is a widely used relational database. MySQL developers created a MariaDB server. It provides stability and high performance. You can deploy it in case of analytical, hybrid, and transactional cases. It provides great operation agility. Many companies like DBS Bank, Red hat, Verizon use this database. Few more features are:

  • Provides advance clustering
  • Compatible with oracle database
  • Easy query processing
  • Provides reliability
  • Drives collaborative innovation

Redis

It is a faster NoSQL database. It uses key-value pairs and simpler as compared to MongoDB. The database is used for the storage of sessions, transactions, and chat. This data model is an open-source and in-memory database. It supports high durability and cluster. Other features of it are:

  • Fast
  • Non-volatile
  • High availability
  • Can be used as cache and message broker
  • Supports strings, lists, sets, and hashes

Conclusion

The use of database for web development isn’t difficult. There are many free databases available to use. It means for beginners it is very simple to use databases if they can understand them from tutorials available on the internet.

Which database you should use? – An opinion

Before deciding to choose any database for web development you have to think about why you need that database. Here are a lot of databases available which are having their own features but you have to make the right decision in order to choose them. So I am trying to give my opinion about them. I hope you will find the database that you need for your web development from the above-mentioned list. If you are just learning SQL for academic purposes try to use simple DBMS. In case you are making a website using PHP and ASP.net you can use Microsoft SQL server for Asp.net and MySQL for PHP. You can also use Microsoft access for ASP.net and Oracle for PHP but java developers prefer DB2.