Choosing between SQL Server Express and SQL Lite

Question

I have a project requirement to choose a light database for the application.

It's required to choose between SQL Server Express Edition or SQLLite. Which one would be efficient and reliable. I am supposed to run it under Windows 7/Windows 2008 R2. I am newbie in the database programming. It would be helpful if you can share some information in terms of

1. Reliability
2. Stability
3. Size Limits
4. Memory consumption
5. Performance

Answer 1

SQL Server Express and SQLite aren't really comparable database systems.

• SQL Server Express is the free version of Microsofts full SQL Server product, a standalone database server (often run on a dedicated machine) that client applications connect to. It is designed for things like web applications where many users will be using the database at the same time and there is a requirement for high availability.

• SQLite is a compact in-process database that is often used in applications that benefit from having access to a SQL based database system however it isn't feasible to install a full standalone database alongside the application. For example Firefox uses SQLite to store bookmarks and Adobe Lightroom uses it to store its photos catalog, there are also several mobile (e.g. iPhone) applications that use SQLite.

The Microsoft equivalent to SQLite would be SQL Server compact edition (CE) which is free to distribute and use. SQL Server CE is very similar to SQLite in most respects.

Similarly the non-Micrososft equivalent of SQL Server (both the Express edition and the full edition) would probably be MySQL.

Although there are crossovers (you might build a small web application that uses SQLite, or a large desktop application that requires users to install SQL Express) typically the choice between the two "types" of database system (in-process vs standalone database server) is down to the type of application being developed.