The best solution for small, pre-packaged databases

We included SQLite alongside web and mobile applications where a small database was needed with minimum latency. Most commonly, this use case involved storing dynamic configuration values and user preferences.

Pros

SQLite is a great database solution when you have a small database that you need to package alongside an application, for example a database that stores user preferences. As it is local to the application, it bypasses issues you would have with other, larger database servers in terms of network latency. Its conformity (in the large part) to MySQL syntax and features make it easy to use as well.

Cons

While SQLite's lack of scaling features is forgivable (that wasn't what it was built for after all) some SQL features that are not implemented make it a hassle to write queries to SQLite databases in some instances.

Easy to become a problem

On a Windows Forms app we used to query services thousand times for data that does not change so frequently. We also had to store some business information (imagine as storing a wizard progress) and that used to be handled using TXT files (and it was a mess). We changed to SQLite and it worked almost like a charm but as the app grew and we decided to create an architecture similar to Google Chrome (multiple processes) it became a major problem for all of them to both read and write at it (we had to create a proxy app to write).

Pros

Integrates nicely with .NET (specially Windows Forms) applications, it's really easy to use (specially if you're already familiar with SQL Server) and deployment is really easy (copy/paste required files).

Cons

It's locking architecture enables only a single process to write at a time so building a more complex application may cause hard-to-solve problems.

Good but Limited Use

I use it to quickly test applications that need some form of data storage without needing to install database software.

Pros

- Very lightweight database products that you can quickly set up to without needing to install complicated tooling so can be used in mobile forms or embedded devices.

Cons

- Does not support the full features of SQL - SQLite does not have support for multi-client concurrency access and can't be used in applications that need this. - Validation of data to input fields is limited

A good choice for storing small and local data

Pros

I love how SQLite is so portable, and can be used in different platforms. I doesn't need any bulky installation for me to use. It is so lightweight and there is no learning curve when you came from MS SQL.

Cons

Maybe when opening a large sqlite file around 1GB above, it hangs up and sometimes fails to load. But maybe that's my fault because SQLite is not intended for storing large data. Good product anyway.

Very good local database.

Pros

We use it in our software when we need little local database. The API with c# is very easy to learn. I recommand this if you need local database.

Cons

There is no data viewer include. You need to find an alternative.