Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Ruby on Rails gets new default database

analysis
Jan 3, 20081 min

A minor, incremental upgrade to the Ruby on Rails Web application framework released on December 17 makes a change in the framework's open source default database. With the 2.0.2 release of Ruby on Rails, the default database has been switched from MySQL to SQLite3, David Heinemeier Hansson, the founder of Ruby on Rails, said on Thursday. The default database is just the database that a fresh Rails application i

A minor, incremental upgrade to the Ruby on Rails Web application framework released on December 17 makes a change in the framework’s open source default database.

With the 2.0.2 release of Ruby on Rails, the default database has been switched from MySQL to SQLite3, David Heinemeier Hansson, the founder of Ruby on Rails, said on Thursday.

The default database is just the database that a fresh Rails application is configured to use, Hansson said in an email.

“It’s really not that big a deal, it’s just what database the default configuration file is designed to work with,” he said. Ruby on Rails still supports the same databases as before, said Hansson.

“MySQL is still by far the preferred production database and will continue to be so. SQLite3 is just great for getting started (you don’t have to run a separate server) and for small applications,” Hansson said. “Rails makes it effortless to switch from SQLite3 to MySQL when you’re ready to go into big production.”

Ruby on Rails 2.0, a major upgrade to the platform, was released on December 7 and emphasized REST-based (Representational State Transfer) Web services.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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