SQLite

PHP native engine SQLite. What is SQLite? SQLite is a SQL database engine written in the C programming language (not a surprise at all, since PHP was also developed with C). SQLite is not a standalone app, it is a library (previously written, reusable blocks of code) that software developers embed in their apps. As such, SQLite belongs to the family of embedded databases.

SQLite is the most used database engine in the World and is built into mobile phones and many computers and comes bundled inside countless other applications that people use every day. Unlike many other SQL databases, SQLite does not have a separate server process. SQLite reads and writes directly to ordinary disk files. A complete SQL database with multiple tables, indices and triggers is contained in a single disk file. These features make SQLite a very popular choice as an Application File Format.

The SQLite file format is stable, cross-platform (you can copy a database between 32-bit and 64-bit systems), legacy compatible and worldwide developers pledge to keep it that way until the year 2050. SQLite database files are commonly used as “containers” to transfer rich content between different systems and as a very long-term archival format for data.