[fpc-other] Firebird vs PostgreSQL

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 25/10/17 18:22, Santiago A. wrote:
> I have some complains, but the overall feeling about Firebird is very
> positive. It is a handy and powerful enough for almost everything . In
> fact, I still have some production server running with no problems for
> years.

I've used Firebird for the last 10 years in various companies. Databases 
ranged from 100's of MBytes to multi TeraByte databases. The latter 
contains lots of data, not necessarily tons of binary blob data. 
Firebird performed brilliantly throughout the various projects I used it 
in. I simply can't fault the database server. The fact that it is so 
easy to install, maintain, backup and even use in read-only or embedded 
environments is a massive plus point.

Oh, and I've access Firebird from Free Pascal, Delphi and Java based 
projects - all with equal ease.


> I have tried a little PostgreSQL, it looks powerful and has good reviews
> and has features that firebird hasn't, some of them very interesting
> like replication.

I have heard good things about PostgreSQL too, and once installed it 
under Linux, but never really used it. I did do a couple of speed tests 
(that could run under various RDBMS's) and PostgreSQL did not perform 
very well out-of-the-box. Apparently you need to tweak it first before 
it performs decently. But this was some 6 years ago, so I don't know if 
things have improved since. I do know PostgreSQL does have some 
Enterprise style features like replication - not sure if there is 
anything else included too.


> Nevertheless, I've heard that windows is not its
> natural habitat.

I have heard the same, but never tried PostgreSQL under Windows. I have 
run Firebird under Windows, Linux and FreeBSD with great results.

Apparently Embarcadero's Interbase database is pretty terrible - I've 
only heard bad things about it. And no Firebird and Interbase don't have 
common code any more. Firebird was totally rewritten pretty soon after 
the original Interbase code was released. Yet the network protocol and 
API's was kept the same for compatibility. Speaking of network 
protocols. Apparently the latest Firebird has a very much improved 
protocol that gives a much higher network throughput - I personally 
haven't tested it yet.

Comparing Firebird to MySQL.... All I can say is I really don't know why 
Firebird isn't more popular - it is brilliant. MySQL on the other hand 
is absolutely ridiculous!!! I explained all my reasons many times before 
in the Lazarus Forums (eg: One simply example is MySQL's reliance on the 
file system it is installed on and that can (and does) determine if the 
database table names are case sensitive or not. So don't ever move from 
a Windows MySQL install to a Linux MySQL install - you'll shouldn't be 
surprised if your applications stop working).

Anyway, I also like the fact that Firebird databases are really compact 
compared to SQL-Server or PostgreSQL databases which contain the exact 
same structure and data. Some will argue the opposite fact though.

Regards,
   Graeme