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## Available Documentation

Overview Documents
Appropriate Uses For SQLite |  | This document describes situations where SQLite is an appropriate database engine to use versus situations where a client/server database engine might be a better choice.
Distinctive Features |  | This document enumerates and describes some of the features of SQLite that make it different from other SQL database engines.
How SQLite Is Tested |  | The reliability and robustness of SQLite is achieved in large part by thorough and careful testing. This document identifies the many tests that occur before every release of SQLite.
Copyright |  | SQLite is in the public domain. This document describes what that means and the implications for contributors.
Frequently Asked Questions |  | The title of the document says all...
SQLite Programming Interfaces Documentation describing the APIs used to program SQLite, and the SQL dialect that it interprets.
SQLite In 5 Minutes Or Less |  | A very quick introduction to programming with SQLite.
Introduction to the C/C++ API |  | This document introduces the C/C++ API. Users should read this document before the C/C++ API Reference Guide linked below.
C/C++ API Reference |  | This document describes each API function separately.
Tcl API |  | A description of the TCL interface bindings for SQLite.
SQL Syntax |  | This document describes the SQL language that is understood by SQLite.
Pragma commands |  | This document describes SQLite performance tuning options and other special purpose database commands.
Version 3 DataTypes |  | SQLite version 3 introduces the concept of manifest typing, where the type of a value is associated with the value itself, not the column that it is stored in. This page describes data typing for SQLite version 3 in further detail.
Null Handling |  | Different SQL database engines handle NULLs in different ways. The SQL standards are ambiguous. This document describes how SQLite handles NULLs in comparison with other SQL database engines.
Unsupported SQL |  | This page describes features of SQL that SQLite does not support.
SQLite Features and Extensions Pages describing specific features or extension modules of SQLite.
Asynchronous IO Mode |  | This page describes the asynchronous IO extension developed alongside SQLite. Using asynchronous IO can cause SQLite to appear more responsive by delegating database writes to a background thread.
Foreign Key Support |  | This document describes the support for foreign key constraints introduced in version 3.7.0.
Shared Cache Mode |  | Version 3.3.0 and later supports the ability for two or more database connections to share the same page and schema cache. This feature is useful for certain specialized applications.
Unlock Notify |  | The "unlock notify" feature can be used in conjunction with shared cache mode to more efficiently manage resource conflict (database table locks).
Using The Online Backup Interface |  | The online-backup interface can be used to copy content from a disk file into an in-memory database or vice versa and it can make a hot backup of a live database. This application note gives examples of how.
Virtual R-Tree Tables |  | A description of the SQLite R-Tree extension. An R-Tree is a specialized data structure that supports fast multi-dimensional range queries often used in geo-spatial systems.
Upgrading SQLite, Backwards Compatibility
Moving From SQLite 3.5 to 3.6 |  | A document describing the differences between SQLite version 3.5.9 and 3.6.0.
Moving From SQLite 3.4 to 3.5 |  | A document describing the differences between SQLite version 3.4.2 and 3.5.0.
Release History |  | A chronology of SQLite releases going back to version 1.0.0
Backwards Compatibility |  | This document details all of the incompatible changes to the SQLite file format that have occurred since version 1.0.0.
Private Branches |  | This document suggests procedures for maintaining a private branch or fork of SQLite and keeping that branch or fork in sync with the public SQLite source tree.
SQLite Technical/Design Documentation
Temporary Files Used By SQLite |  | SQLite can potentially use many different temporary files when processing certain SQL statements. This document describes the many kinds of temporary files that SQLite uses and offers suggestions for avoiding them on systems where creating a temporary file is an expensive operation.
In-Memory Databases |  | SQLite normally stores content in a disk file. However, it can also be used as an in-memory database engine. This document explains how.
How SQLite Implements Atomic Commit |  | A description of the logic within SQLite that implements transactions with atomic commit, even in the face of power failures.
Dynamic Memory Allocation in SQLite |  | SQLite has a sophisticated memory allocation subsystem that can be configured and customized to meet memory usage requirements of the application and that is robust against out-of-memory conditions and leak-free. This document provides the details.
Customizing And Porting SQLite |  | This document explains how to customize the build of SQLite and how to port SQLite to new platforms.
Locking And Concurrency In SQLite Version 3 |  | A description of how the new locking code in version 3 increases concurrency and decreases the problem of writer starvation.
Overview Of The Optimizer |  | A quick overview of the various query optimizations that are attempted by the SQLite code generator.
Architecture |  | An architectural overview of the SQLite library, useful for those who want to hack the code.
VDBE Opcodes |  | This document is an automatically generated description of the various opcodes that the VDBE understands. Programmers can use this document as a reference to better understand the output of EXPLAIN listings from SQLite.
SQLite File Format |  | A description of the format used for SQLite database and journal files, and other details required to create software to read and write SQLite databases without using SQLite.
Compilation Options |  | This document describes the compile time options that may be set to modify the default behavior of the library or omit optional features in order to reduce binary size.
Limits In SQLite |  | This document describes limitations of SQLite (the maximum length of a string or blob, the maximum size of a database, the maximum number of tables in a database, etc.) and how these limits can be altered at compile-time and run-time.
Old Documents These documents either pertain to SQLite version 2 or were written during the transition period between versions 2 and 3. They are no longer strictly applicable to recent versions of SQLite, but the information found within may still be useful.
Version 2 C/C++ API |  | A description of the C/C++ interface bindings for SQLite through version 2.8
Version 2 DataTypes |  | A description of how SQLite version 2 handles SQL datatypes. Short summary: Everything is a string.
VDBE Tutorial |  | The VDBE is the subsystem within SQLite that does the actual work of executing SQL statements. This page describes the principles of operation for the VDBE in SQLite version 2.7. This is essential reading for anyone who want to modify the SQLite sources.
SQLite Version 3 |  | A summary of of the changes between SQLite version 2.8 and SQLite version 3.0.
Version 3 C/C++ API |  | A summary of of the API related changes between SQLite version 2.8 and SQLite version 3.0.
Speed Comparison |  | The speed of version 2.7.6 of SQLite is compared against PostgreSQL and MySQL.