# Some opinionated thoughts on SQL databases

DevFeed: [Some opinionated thoughts on SQL databases](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/some-opinionated-thoughts-on-sql-databases-21965.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.nelhage.com/post/some-opinionated-sql-takes/>)

Author: Nelson Elhage

Published: 2021-03-30T17:32:31Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Nelson Elhage](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/nelson-elhage.md>)

Topics: [Databases](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/databases.md>), [SQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sql.md>), [MySQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mysql.md>), [PostgreSQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/postgresql.md>), [SQLite](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sqlite.md>), [backends](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backends.md>), [Web APIs](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-apis.md>), [Latency](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/latency.md>)

Tags: [acid](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/acid.md>), [backends](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/backends.md>), [consistency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/consistency.md>), [databases](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/databases.md>), [durability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/durability.md>), [high-availability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/high-availability.md>), [low-latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/low-latency.md>), [mysql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mysql.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [postgresql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgresql.md>), [sql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sql.md>), [sqlite](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sqlite.md>), [web-apis](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-apis.md>)

## AI overview

An opinionated discussion of SQL databases, focused mainly on MySQL and PostgreSQL, with some coverage of SQLite. Drawing on experience using databases as backends for web applications and APIs, the article argues that open-source SQL databases provide excellent storage engines, throughput, durability, and transactional guarantees when properly tuned.

## Source excerpt

People who work with me tend to realize that I have Opinions about databases, and SQL databases in particular. Last week, I wrote about a Postgres debugging story and tweeted about AWS' policy ban on internal use of SQL databases, and had occasion to discuss and debate some of those feelings on Twitter; this article is an attempt to write up more of them into a single place I can refer to.