SQL Express vs SQL Compact Edition

[szlamany]

Since MS now offers SQLce (Compact edition) in addition to SSE (Express) - I'm curious if any of you who might develop single-user database applications might consider using this over Express - for a desktop application?

http://blogs.msdn.com/stevelasker/ar...whereInfo.aspx - interesting read (although lengthy)...

MS comparison info http://www.microsoft.com/sql/edition...omparison.mspx

I've recently used SQLce for a mobile app - it's very nice for a pure data storage tool. And it runs in the processor space of your application itself - as opposed to a service - making it much lighter weight.

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[Mods] Please don't move this thread - I am curious about the .Net developers in regard to this question

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[jmcilhinney]

I'd certainly consider it for desktop apps with small-scale data requirements. If I'm not mistaken it doesn't require a server to be installed, which reduces complexity for the developer and the user.

[techgnome]

Same here. But the one issue I ran into with it is that the data types are limited, and functions and stored procs aren't supported. Right up to that point, I was ok with it, but the project I was trying to use it for really needed to have the ability to run stored procs.

But if the opportunity ever arises, I'm all over it. SEVEN dlls is all it takes to "install". It just doesn't get any easier than that.

-tg

[szlamany]

The lack of stored procedures threw me back a bit - but since I was only "loading" some data from a true MS SQL server to this "read-only" SQLce database - I quickly got over it...

The datatype limitation was also odd to me - but we are a "use-very-few" datatype shop anyway - so I just needed to find matching types to what we had.

The fact that it had "compact" functionality scared me that it was ACCESS-based - but after some research I could find no proof of that. It appears to be based on SQL mobile - although what SQL mobile was based on I don't know...

[techgnome]

From what I read it went like this:

SQL Server -> SQL EXpress -> SQL Compact (Mobile) -> SQL Everywhere -> SQL CE.
They started with SQL Express and stripped out a bunch of things, called it Compact, then tweaked it some more, and came up with the 7 DLL install, and called it "Everywhere" ... and continuted to call it that through CTP, but when it was "ready" decided that because of "SQL Anywhere" to change it back to Compact Edition.

-tg

[szlamany]

From this thread

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...36#post2896236

I always use SQLCE over access in my stand-alone apps. They behave just like access files so you can copy, back them up etc. as easy as access. The files required are also only a couple MB so imho SQLCE is perfect for using them in stand-alone apps. Only thing i miss are stored procedures.

Another thing that is very handy with SQLCE is that it integrates within visual studio IDE so you can create your tables etc. directly in visual studio. According to an msdn article ive read somewhere it also should be, depending on the situation, about 1.1 to 4.0 times as fast as access.