Understanding SQLite’s CAST() Expression

SQLite is a widely-used lightweight database engine that powers many mobile, embedded, and desktop applications. One of its key features is its dynamic type system, which allows flexibility in handling data. While this is advantageous in many scenarios, there are cases where developers need precise control over how data is treated or converted between types. This is where SQLite’s CAST() expression comes in.

Continue reading

What ?TABLE? Means When using .help mode in DuckDB

If you’ve ever run .help mode in the DuckDB command line interface (CLI), you may have noticed that it returns information about the .mode command, including its syntax.

You might’ve noticed that there’s a ?TABLE? part in the syntax. What’s this about? Maybe you’ve tried it out and found that it didn’t appear to do anything?

In this article, I’ll explain what the ?TABLE? part is for, and I’ll run an example to demonstrate.

Continue reading

What is NDJSON?

Newline Delimited JSON (NDJSON) is a specialized data format that provides a simple yet powerful way to handle streaming JSON data. While standard JSON is excellent for representing structured data, NDJSON addresses specific use cases where processing large datasets and streaming data is required.

This article takes a quick look at NDJSON and how it differs from regular JSON.

Continue reading

What is JSON?

JavaScript Object Notation, commonly known as JSON, is a lightweight, text-based data interchange format that has become one of the most widely used standards for transmitting data across the internet.

Despite its origins in JavaScript, JSON has evolved into a language-independent format, making it an essential tool for developers working with any programming language or platform.

Continue reading

What is DuckDB?

This article takes a look at DuckDB, a modern database management system (DBMS) designed specifically for data analysis and processing.

Often described as the “SQLite for analytics,” DuckDB is lightweight, embeddable, and highly efficient, making it a popular choice for those working with structured data.

Whether you’re considering DuckDB for your projects or simply curious about its capabilities, this article will give you a basic overview of what it is and how it fits into the data analytics landscape.

Continue reading

An Introduction to SQLite’s LIKELY() Function

SQLite provides a range of tools to help optimize query execution. One of these is the likely() function, which helps developers guide the query planner by hinting at the probability of certain conditions being true.

In this article, we’ll look at the likely() function, understanding how it works, its syntax, some use cases, and its impact on query performance.

Continue reading

An Overview of the LIKELIHOOD() Function in SQLite

SQLite is a lightweight, serverless database engine widely used for its simplicity and flexibility. Among its many functions, the likelihood() function is a handy option that allows you to influence query planning by providing hints about the probability of certain conditions being true.

This article explores the details of the likelihood() function, its syntax, use cases, and a practical example to demonstrate its application.

Continue reading