I used SQLite for teaching last year because it was the only thing that I could get IT to install between when I took over the databases unit and the start of t

I used SQLite for teaching last year because it was the only thing that I could get IT to install between when I took over the databases unit and the start of term. While it was broadly a success, I consider the following major problems when teaching to beginners: * very loose syntax. CREATE TABLE PERSON ( ID BANANA BANANA BANANA ); is legal :) * no type-checking: you can insert strings into an INTEGER column and vice versa - while you're trying with a straight face to teach students that one of the advantages of a proper database is that it can enforce some consistency on your data. * in the same vein - foreign key constraints are NOT enforced by default. * misusing GROUP BY produces results, but not the ones you want. I'd much rather any use of aggregates that is forbidden by the standard also gave an error, to discourage students from thinking "it produces numbers, therefore it must be ok". This year, I'll try with MariaDB. I consider SQLite an excellent product for many things and use it extensively myself, but as a teaching tool its liberal approach to typing is a drawback.