SQL has two main advantages over older read-write APIs

Question

Accepted Answer

SQL is a domain-specific language used for data management in relational data stream management systems. Its benefits extend to the handling of structured data. One of the primary advantages is its ability to access many records with a single command. This eliminates the need to specify how to reach individual records. This enables developers to focus on building more complex applications rather than debugging existing systems. However, there are some limitations to using SQL.

Although most popular SQL implementations lack some basic SQL features, including TIME and DATE, most developers will never need to port their code between database systems. Another disadvantage is the complexity of the SQL standard, which most implementers don’t support fully. Additionally, the standard doesn’t specify database behavior in several important areas. Thus, the code written for one database system may not be compatible with another.

The primary disadvantage of relational database systems is that they cannot scale horizontally. To increase database size, developers must change their software, which usually involves adding more computing power. Furthermore, switching from a small machine to a larger one usually results in downtime. Furthermore, SQL databases cannot scale horizontally; they have to be split across multiple servers, which requires additional engineering work and data structure changes. However, SQL databases are known to perform well on smaller datasets, and their indexes make data retrieval more efficient.