Top 6 Databases for Software Development Projects

- By Nasir Zaidi

A database is a software system that stores and has facilities for retrieving data. That data can be numbers, strings, or binary data. It can store data in a structured (relational) or non-structured (non-relational) manner.

According to a Stack Overflow Survey conducted in 2022, over 63000 professional developers picked their choice of database for software development projects. We have picked six most popular databases below:

1. MySQL

Picked by 46.75% developers, MySQL tops the list of most popular databases. Released in May 1995, MySQL is built on top C, C++ and creates a database for storing and manipulating data, defining the relationship of each table.

Apart from being free to download and open-source, it is secure as it consists of a solid data security layer to protect sensitive data from hackers and password encryption.

MySQL’s popularity is also due to its simplicity and ease of use. You need only a basic knowledge of MySQL and can store data in it using a few simple programming statements.

MySQL works with most operating systems including Linux, Windows, Novell, NetWare, Solaris and other UNIX operation systems.

2. PostgreSQL

Ranking just behind MySQL, PostgreSQL was picked by 43.59% developers as their preferred database. Released in July 1996, PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database management system compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

PostgreSQL is mainly community driven and has a large community of developers and companies that have contributed in its growth over the years.

Besides being secure due to transparent data encryption (TDE) and data masking, PostgreSQL is quite scalable as there are multiple technical options for operating PostgreSQL at scale.

3. SQLite

Chosen by 32.01% respondents, SQLite is an open-source zero-configuration database engine written in the C language. SQLite runs with a variety of platforms including MacOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Windows users in particular can use precompiled binaries for regular Win32, UWP, WinRT, and .NET. Reading and writing operations are very fast for SQLite database. It is almost 35% faster than File system.

In addition, SQLite is very easy to learn. You don’t need to install and configure it. You can simply download SQLite libraries in your computer and simply use it for creating the database.

4. MongoDB

Preferred by 28.3% Stack Overflow developers, MongoDB is an open-source cross platform database program that was launched in 2009. MongoDB is compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux, Solaris and FreeBSD operating systems.

While SQL databases are used to store structured data, MongoDB stores unstructured data using JSON. MongoDB has advanced features and is capable of handling big data with dynamic schema features.

MongoDB has a simple installation with extensive technical support and documentation and MongoDB’s document model allows virtually any data structure to be modeled and manipulated easily.

5. Microsoft SQL Server

Chosen by 26.87% respondents, Microsoft SQL server is a database server with the main function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other applications. Built on C, C#, C++, Microsoft SQL server is compatible with Linux and Windows Operating systems.

It is available in multiple languages including English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Russian etc. MS SQL’s encryption and compression capabilities make it an ideal choice for data storage. In addition, multiple security layers and complex encryption protocols make it one of the most secure database programs.

6. Redis

Ranking sixth on the list is Redis (22.13%), which is an open-sourced BSD licensed in-memory data store structure used as a programming database and cache. Built using C and ANSI C, Redis is compatible with Unix operating systems.

Due to its sub-milliseconds response times, Redis is a popular choice for caching, session management, gaming, leaderboards, real-time analytics, ride-hailing and messaging apps.

Moreover, Redis offers flexible data structure types including strings, hashes, bitmaps, lists, streams, JSON, sets and sorted sets.