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Improving Databases: Open Source Competitive Benchmark
TL;DR: Our initial benchmark has raised a lot of interest. Initially we wanted to show that multi-model can compete with other solutions. Due to the open and competitive way we have conducted the benchmark, the discussions around it have lead to improvements in all products, better algorithms, faster drivers and better ways to use the databases.
General Setup
From the outset we published all code and data and asked the vendors of all tested products as well as the general public, not only to run the tests on their own machines, but also to suggest improvements in the data models, test code, database configuration, driver usage and server configuration. This lead to a lively discussion, lots of pull requests and even to the release of improved versions of the database products themselves!
This process exceeded all our expectations and is yet another great example of community collaboration not only for fact finding but also for product improvements. Obviously, the same benchmark code will always show slightly different results when run on different hardware, operating systems, network setups and with more or less RAM. Therefore, a reliable result of a benchmark can essentially only be achieved by allowing everybody to run it on their own machines.
The technical setup is described in the above blog post. Let me briefly repeat the key facts.
Working with ArangoDB: Insights from Francis at Boostport
As an open-source project we are always happy when we learn about new projects that use ArangoDB and we are thankful for any feedback; on how working with ArangoDB and/or interacting with the team – has helped your projects to develop. If you have a story you want to share, please get in touch.
Recently we have received a nice feedback from Francis (Boostport) that reached us with the launch of his new product. Parts of Boostport are realized using Foxx-JavaScript extensions on ArangoDB:
“I really enjoyed working on ArangoDB. It’s very stable, well-documented and the API docs are very clear, as I use the REST api. Support is also top-notch. Bugs were often fixed hours or days after discovery and in one case, after I submitted an enhancement request for custom AQL functions, Jan implemented them over the next few days.
For me, the most important feature is being able to build custom AQL functions in javascript. This allowed me to easily perform analytics on social data, generate the appropriate views and send them back to the client for consumption. Finally, I also really liked how minimal configuration is needed to get it up and running. As a plus, I like how you can set up replication using the REST interface. :)”
Exploring More ES6 Features: ArangoDB Insights
ArangoDB 2.5 comes with an upgraded version of V8, Google’s open source JavaScript engine.
The built-in version of V8 has been upgraded from 3.29.54 to 3.31.74.1.
In addition to several already usable ES6 features (detailed in this blog, the following ES6 features are activated in ArangoDB 2.5 by default:
- iterators and generators
- template strings
- enhanced object literals
- enhanced numeric literals
- block scoping with
letandconstantvariables using const - additional String methods (such as
startsWith,repeatetc.)
The above features are available in ArangoDB 2.5, and can now be used for scripting purposes in the ArangoShell and in server-side Foxx actions inside the database.
This blog post briefly explains the features provides some quick examples for using them.
Lucas Michael at FrOSCon: ArangoDB Community Event
Like every year, the ArangoDB team visited the FrOSCon. FrOSCon is the yearly Free and Open Source conference in St. Augustin, a small city near Cologne where the ArangoDB headquarters are. This year two talks were given by us, one by Michael and one by me, Lucas.
Michael gave a talk about “Multi-Model NoSQL Databases” and gave an introduction to Polyglot persistence and NoSQL. He also co-organized the JavaScript track of the conference with topics ranging from Angular JS to Property-based testing.
If you missed his talk, you can watch it here:
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Data Modeling in a Schema-Free Environment | ArangoDB 2012
We just came back from FroSCon, a large, international open source conference near Bonn, Germany. Jan Steemann, one of the core developers of ArangoDB, had a talk on modelling data in a schema-free world. Jan was given the largest room in the conference for this talk, fortunately a lot of people showed up and even stayed ;-).
You can find Jan’s presentation below.
AvocadoDB: The Best NoSQL Database | ArangoDB Blog 2012
Our mission: projects are different, project requirements change. We want to offer with AvocadoDB a most universally applicable nosql database which can be used in a maximum number of different use cases. In buzzword bingo language: we want to become the MySql in nosql – without MySql’s annoyances of course ;-).