Why imageboard scripts do not use database?

Question

I was very surprised when downloaded two imageboard php scripts. There is no connection to database, threads and posts are listed as files and folders. Is this way faster than standard mysql database connection or there is another reason?

Answer 1

Two factors lead to this. 1) The number one purpose of imageboards is to hold images, and images don't do well when stored in a database. 2) Threads in an imageboard are strictly linear, therefore a simple monotonic filename scheme suffices to distinguish them.