At what point is it worth using a database?

Question

I have a question relating to databases and at what point is worth diving into one. I am primarily an embedded engineer, but I am writing an application using Qt to interfa

Answer 1

Don't forget that the appropriate database can be quite different depending on your requirements (and don't forget that a text file could be used as a database if you're requirements are simple enough - for example, config files are just a specific kind of database). Such parameters might be:

• number of records
• size of data items
• does the database need to be shared with other devices? Concurrently?
• how complex are the relationships between the various pieces of data
• is the database read only (created at build time and not changed, for example)?
• does the database need to be updated by multiple entities concurrently?
• do you need to support complex queries?

For a database with 700 entries, an in-memory sorted array loaded from a text file might well be appropriate. But I could also see the need for an embedded SQL database or maybe having the controller request data from the database over a network connection depending on what the various requirements (and resource limitations) are.