Recommendations for single user access Database

Question

I am writing a desktop utility application to manage a small set of data. This application will be used by a singular person so I'd like to keep the database as simple as possible. I am considering XML or SQL Server Compact 3.5 (SQL CE). I am leaning towards SQL CE because it will probably be easier/quicker to develop than XML. Are there any other worthwhile solutions worth considering? Is SQL CE the way to go?

Edit - Here are some more specifics on the data:

• Maybe a half a dozen tables
• No more than 5000 records
• Mostly CRUD operations
• Basic reporting/exporting to excel

Answer 1

SQL Server Express

Answer 2

SQLite would be my choice.

Answer 3

It depends on a number of parameters:

• How much data will you store
• Will you perform complex queries on the data
• What kind of performance demands to you have
• and more...

If you are going to store relatively small amounts of data, without complex relations, and without a great need to query the data in complex ways, XML might be enough. If you on the other hand expect a greater amount of data, need good query support and performance, SQL Server Express or some other lightweight database manager would be the way to go.

Answer 4

I've had good experiences with Sql CE, that seems like a very reasonable solution given the scenario you're describing. It has the added advantage of being much simpler to deploy than a separate solution as well, and I think that is a very big deal for a simple app like you describe.

I'm using it with Linq2Sql right now in my personal project, in fact. :)

Answer 5

You can take a look at Firebird Embeeded.

link text

Answer 6

SQL Server CE is lightweight and simple, and if you're using Visual Studio you already have it.

Answer 7

If this is for a single user and a limited set of data, I'd recommend looking into db4o. http://db4o.com

It's an object database that would allow you to store objects directly without having to translate them into tables.