db4o

db4o - db4o is the open source object database that enables Java and .NET developers to slash development time and costs and achieve unprecedented levels of performance.

The unique design of db4o's native object database engine makes it the ideal choice to be embedded in equipment and devices, in packaged software running on mobile or desktop platforms, or in real-time control systems - in short: in all Java and .NET environments, where no database administrator (DBA) is present.

All object-oriented software developers are familiar with the difficulty transitioning from object-oriented thinking to relational persistence. So far, they have been forced to choose between speed and object-orientation: Native SQL access is fast, but laborious, requiring a great deal of additional code. Object-relational mappers offer a convenient bridge, but they seriously degrade performance.

db4o eliminates the OO-versus-performance tradeoff: it allows you to store even the most complex object structures with ease, while achieving highest level of performance. Database benchmarks show db4o to be up to 55 times faster than Hibernate and MySQL, a popular object-relational mapper and relational SQL database stack.

The major reason for using relational databases today is legacy, i.e. retaining old enterprise data and the set of existing applications relying on it. But beyond the server-centric persistence, there are a multitude of device, mobile, and desktop applications for which conventional database technology falls short. Here db4o's technology ensures new levels of performance, functionality, and cost effectiveness.

Still, by means of the db4o Replication System (dRS), developers can remain fully data compatible with legacy RDBMSs such as Oracle and MySQL.

Product - Application, Unique Features, Benefits

db4o is designed to provide a full-featured, embeddable database engine for equipment, mobile, desktop, and server platforms in object-oriented environments. Where relational databases fall short in providing zero-administration, small footprint, high performance, smooth synchronisation, and easy refactorability, db4o is the answer. Native to Java and .NET, db4o's single programming library (.jar /.dll) easily integrates into the application and performs highly reliable and scalable persistence tasks with just one single line of code, no matter how complex object structures may be.

As a result, developers can:

Eliminate tools and code necessary for object-relational mapping, which is proven to drive code complexity and resource-consumption while inhibiting performance and refactorability. With db4o, users gain up to 90% time and cost savings for software development with regard to persistence.
Build applications with seamlessly integrated data storage that does not need runtime administration, and is highly reliable and much faster than conventional or proprietary database engines.
Benefit from object-oriented paradigms without being constrained by the database, resulting in the deployment of more complex, i.e. naturalistic and feature-rich object models without driving up cost and resource consumption.
Change, refactor and reuse software components with the ability to add new software features without breaking the legacy code or incurring too high cost - allowing more flexibility to stay ahead of the competition.
db4o is driven by the world's largest community of its kind, with 20,000 registered Java and .NET developers and counting. The product has been downloaded nearly 1,000,000 times and been deployed successfully in transportation, networks, natural sciences, industrial, consumer, and enterprise applications. Users and customers of db4o currently come from 170 different countries, from Albania to Zimbabwe, and range from world class leaders like Boeing, Bosch, Intel, Ricoh, and Seagate to a wide range of highly innovative start-up companies.

Built on new object database technology, db4o is currently the only database that is native to both Java and .NET -- providing cross-platform portability that liberates users from proprietary vendors' high licensing fees. Offering a wide array of unique, object-oriented database functionalities, db4o boosts the benefits of OO programming languages: Its object-oriented replication (dRS), its object-oriented queries (Native Queries, QbE, S.O.D.A.), and the ObjectManager GUI for browsing object database files are unmatched in the database world.

Above all, db4o is very easy to learn, implement, and use. db4o's powerful database engine allows users to store objects with just one line of code, slashing development time and cost for the persistence layer to a minimum.

These benefits are quadrupled when it comes to changing software in order to refactor, to add new features or to re-use software components. db4o automates refactoring through the development environment, because all non-native APIs and strings are eliminated. If updates are deployed to the installed base, automatic schema versioning handles object model changes automatically without the need for conversion processes. Developers need no enhancer, no pre-compiling, and no post-compiling processes. And even replication processes are widely agnostic to software changes, avoiding breaking distributed data architectures.