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Being a file format is only one aspect of what SQLite is. SQLite describes itself as "SQLite is a C-language library that implements a small, fast, self-conta

Being a file format is only one aspect of what SQLite is. SQLite describes itself as "SQLite is a C-language library that implements a small, fast, self-contained, high-reliability, full-featured, SQL database engine." I think that is a better, more encompassing, description than "it's a file format" Edit: If SQLite lacked any ability to persist data to disk, it would still be very useful as an in-process SQL engine for many sorts of problems. Certainly not as useful as it currently is, but nevertheless still useful. I'd say the file format without the SQL engine, or the SQL engine without the file format, would be like peanut-butter without jelly. Certainly not pointless, but the real magic comes from the combination of the two.

bane 7y ago
Sure, I can get behind that. The logic that handles the read/writing and SQL parsing is all part of the library for sure. But that library is absolutely not required nor is SQL. One could build their own library that read/write to SQLite files entirely without any of that if they wished. Some people have done ground up rewrites in other languages other than C, but have more or less stuck with the same internal logic and the use of SQL as the read/write logic.