Pocketbase

(github.com)

200 points dcu | 1 comments | 03 Jul 25 15:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.399s | source

Show context

CharlesW ◴[03 Jul 25 17:03 UTC] No.44457094[source]▶

Pocketbase is already the poor man's BaaS, and is minimalist compared to the two others mentioned.

> Data stored in human-readable CSVs

The choice to not use a database when two near-perfect tiny candidates exist, and furthermore to choose the notorious CSV format for storing data, is absolutely mystifying. One can use their Wasm builds if platform-specific binaries offend.

replies(6): >>44457217 #>>44457440 #>>44457602 #>>44459642 #>>44460110 #>>44460962 #

loeber ◴[03 Jul 25 17:58 UTC] No.44457602[source]▶

>>44457094 #

In 2025, pretending that a CSV can be a reasonable alternative to a database because it is "smaller" is just wild. Totally unconscionable.

replies(5): >>44457929 #>>44458129 #>>44458193 #>>44460475 #>>44464263 #

1. nickjj ◴[04 Jul 25 13:15 UTC] No.44464263[source]▶

>>44457602 #

If you ignore size as a benefit, CSV files still have a lot of value:

    - It's plain text
    - It's super easy to diff
    - It's a natural fit for saving it in a git repo
    - It's searchable using standard tools (grep, etc.)
    - It's easy to backup and restore
    - You don't need to worry about it getting corrupt
    - There are many tools designed to read it to produce X types of outputs

A few months ago I wrote my own CLI driven CSV based income and expense tracker at https://github.com/nickjj/plutus. It helps me do quartly taxes in a few minutes and I can get an indepth look at my finances on demand in 1 command.

My computer built in 2014 can parse 100,000 CSV rows in 560ms which is already 10x more items than I really have. I also spent close to zero effort trying to optimize the script for speed. It's a zero dependency single file Python script using "human idiomatic" code.

Overall I'm very pleased in the decision to use a single CSV file instead of a database.

↑