On Fri, Nov 22, 2024 at 7:40 AM Scott Bailey via Boost < boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:
# boost_sqlite review
Please accept my apologies for the poor formatting. And a bit thank you to everyone involved in this process. I have long wished for a sqlite wrapper with critical mass.
Thank you for writing a review.
## Initial Thoughts and Use Case
At the time I saw the announcement for this review, I was actively evaluating libraries for a project I was (and continue to be) working on. I successfully used the boost_sqlite library in a limited capacity (create, insert, and pragmas only for on disk and in memory DBs).
My first impression of the library is that it's extremely lightweight. This simplicity has value but also leaves the end user reinventing the wheel for certain repetitive operations. For example, using class enums for pragma get and set moves defect finding from runtime (bad) to compile time (better!).
That seems like a reasonable addition.
My second thought was how painful it was to include in my professional project. Our legacy software does not build Boost.json and, while it was trivial to add it for my sandbox app, it is an unnecessary extra dependency.
You are the second person to bring this up. I think making json support a header only addition would solve the dependency issue.
## Design Evaluation
Simple, straight forward, and intuitive. I believe it meets my needs.
### Wishlist
Here are some wishlist items I have. They may be inappropriate for this library and boost in general; however, they are still on my wishlist.
#### connection
It would be great if connection had a simple enum so I could do this:
```cpp boost::sqlite::connection mydb(boost::sqlite::memory); ```
Also, given C++17 `std::fstream` takes `std::filesystem::path`, it would be nice if `connection()` et all did as well. And I wouldn't complain if `boost::filesystem::path` was supported as well.
I'll see if that can be added without including additional headers.
## Implementation Evaluation
I reviewed this library as a user.
## Documentation Evaluation
The readme.md file was adequate for me to quickly build a simple SQLite DB application.
## Potential Usefulness
This is a useful library. I intend to incorporate this into professional projects as soon as it becomes available in a stable boost release.
## Personal Usage
I used the following compiler in my development:
gcc (Ubuntu 11.4.0-1ubuntu1~22.04) 11.4.0
I included Boost and Boost.sqlite using CPM.cmake (fetchcontent). It was a trivial operation to include and link.
## Final Thoughts
For the past few years I've lamented the lack of a Modern C++ SQLite wrapper with a critical mass of user backing. This library has the potential to fill that gap.
I would like to see this library build without the sin dependency.
I assume you meant json here?
With or without the build dependency change, this library should be accepted into Boost.
Thank you.