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by panzi 17 days ago
Well, I would also like a proper datetime/timestamp datatype that isn't just a string.
2 comments

Why not store them as integers? Representing dates is a UI responsibility
Forcing all dates to be cast to a single time zone (UTC) complicates workflows when you’re on the other side of the globe. Many DBs have added a timestamp offset type for this to keep the data in the offset it occurred in.
I also want to be able to debug the database in an SQL console with nice looking date-times.
You can already do that: https://sqlite.org/lang_datefunc.html
Just to state the obvious, you can create a view which uses these functions to make your integer date/times readable, and then debugging is easy.
Someone should fork it in Rust using Claude and rename it SQRite.

Strict type all the things.

A large portion of the tests are closed source unfortunately which would make it tough to create a port.
What the hell? This is the first I'm learning of this.

Why did they do that? Is it owned by a private company?

That's one way they make money. That's the reason sqlite exists.
In a 2021 podcast interview[0], Dr. Hipp noted they've sold zero copies of the TH3 (extensive, proprietary) test suite in SQLite's history.

By the time TH3 was added in 2008, SQLite had gained a fair bit of traction across multiple industries. Though I totally agree that the comprehensive coverage is a leading reason why they've been so stable over the last ~20 years.

So indirectly, TH3 is why they (continue to) exist and (are able to) make money, but it isn't a direct line as one might assume.

[0] https://corecursive.com/066-sqlite-with-richard-hipp/

[1] https://youtu.be/5zQdYx-fqJg?t=300

They sell several niche things, for hopefully hundreds of thousands of dollars, to just a few people each. TH3 is just one instance of the general pattern.
Why not ~Zoidberg~ Zig?