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Comment by not_knuth | Hacker News Reader

Cool article. I definitely agree that SQLite is the way to go in 99% of the cases you're making some kind of app.

I have often seen Postgres, MySQL and MongoDB in places where they were really overkill and added unnecessary network and deployment complexity. And upon asking the designers it turns out they simply didn't know about SQLite...

Small gripe in case the poster reads this: There's a malopropism in the opening bit:

> SQLite is properly the only database you will ever need in most cases.

Should be:

> SQLite is probably

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I'm not sure I understand why PostgreSQL would be "overkill" for something? It's very easy to set up and operate, almost anyone in the industry either knows it or they should be willing to learn it as it's the de facto standard for almost any modern company using an SQL database.

Also it's very easy to buy PostgreSQL from various DBaaS providers. There's a docker one liner to set it up on any development machine and you need to run it just once.

Sure, SQLite is a little bit easier but it's so much less powerful as a database. Why not just go to Postgres directly and leave SQLite for what it's intended: embedded programming like mobile apps or in-car entertainment systems etc.

> I'm not sure I understand why PostgreSQL would be "overkill" for something?

For one it requires more expertise to set it up and monitor. SQLlite is way easier to use. And if the app is coded right, it can be easy to replace SQLite with a more powerful client-server DB like Postgres when necessary.

> I'm not sure I understand why PostgreSQL would be "overkill" for something?

Because its a separate server process and install rather than an embedded library. On disk, in memory, in CPU, in config and admin workload, and in pretty much every other conceivable way its heavier than SQLite. It offers a lot extra , too, but if you don’t need the extra that it offers, its overkill.

> Also it's very easy to buy PostgreSQL from various DBaaS providers.

Yes, it is. Which reduces some burdens and increases others. Nonlocality is a cost (also, paying for a DBaaS is a cost.)

Malopropism! That has just become my word of the day. Thanks.

"Statues of Limitations," was always my favorite malopropism.

"You should of done something"

"This has no affect on me"

They're everywhere.

I recently heard someone say "cow tailed" instead of "kowtowed"

After cleaning up some spilled toner, someone put a very indignant notice under the photocopier:

"It would be who of you to be cautious openening a new toner cartridge."

Then note that the correct spelling is "malapropism"

I'm just gonna pretend the misspelling was intentional :)

One example is Ubiquiti Unifi management software using MongoDB, you end up with 4GB+ of space usage just to run some basic software because of the prealloc files.

> malopropism

Malapropism? Can just call it a typo (which is incorrect but people get it).

Always fun to see this sort of comment under an article about using the right tool for the job.

If you wanted to recommend a less descriptive yet more commonly known word, why not use "error" or "mistake"?

Typo literally means the opposite of what the OP wants to convey.

A typo is when you pick the right word, but type it wrong.

A malopropism is when you pick the wrong word, but type it correctly.

In 2021 a typo means an autocorrect fir free.

I think this is a bit of a case of "Why use many word when few word do trick?"

Are you imploring that 'malapropism' is too sesquipedalian and that one should generally eschew obfuscationism?

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