
FlatDB – database designed to persist data using just PHP and flat-files - maxko
https://github.com/maxkostinevich/flatdb
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throwaway2016a
At what point does it stop being a flat file and start being an actual
database albeit one implemented in a bit of a round about way?

With that said, PHP has sqlite support built in since 5.0 and sqlite3 since
5.3 so I see no reason to use this over that. Maybe the author can elaborate.

I remember writing code to do stuff like this in C way back when because there
were literally no other choices.

Also, why is this on Hacker News?

Edit: I do, however, applaud any effort to contribute to the open source
community. However, for anyone to trust this they would need unit tests and a
composer package on Packagist.

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voaie
This is useful for some free web hosting sites with some limits (if file
creation is not forbidden ;), also useful for simple personal blog system
(composer is unnecessary).

Well, not great, but usable. The write method is not reliable for asynchronous
operations.

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throwaway2016a
You don't need composer on the server you are running it on to still benefit
from package management. You just do an install then deploy your vendors
director.

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mhuffman
There is already a super-fast flat-file database system that supports sorting
(alphabetically and timestamps), ultra-fast lookup and retrieval, and
optimized caching -- it's called a filesystem.

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creshal
So why this and not SQLite? Just to save the dependency? What makes it
"secure"?

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maxko
Sometimes SQLite is not an option and I created FlatDB for my own needs. This
is not a replacement for SQLite or other database engine.

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Volt
When is it not an option?

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maxko
Please correct me if I'm wrong but SQLite database could be downloaded from
web-browser. There is a some ways to prevent it by keeping db files above www/
dir or via htaccess, however what you will do if you have only limited access
to www/ folder and .htaccess aren't supported?

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throwaway2016a
The server you are describing I have never seen... even in the 90s. I have
never seen a server where .htaccess was disabled AND you couldn't go one level
up from www/public_html/htdocs/etc.

So now curiosity has gotten the best of me... is this a private lan or
something? The only thing I can think of it is one of those situations where a
University gives you a website but it is really really locked down.

Also, try starting it with a dot (".mytest.html") as a lot of servers prevent
hosting up files that start with a dot.

