Creating a database from scratch in C++ for fun!

SpunkyDB is an open source database.

SpunkyDB aims to be a high speed, modern implementation of the latest database-relevant algorithms. It aims to be configurable for a range of application and data safety use cases. Multiple abstraction layers over the low-level key-value store provide multi-model capability without sacrificing performance.

The database aims to run on every platforms from an 8-bit microcontroller for edge IoT applications all the way up to multi-node clusters hosted in the cloud, with multiple tenant organisations and applications. The design is highly componentised for this reason.

The database is still young, but I hope to have a proof of concept on a multi-model database with query support that runs on multiple operating systems during the second half of 2024.

First, download QtCreator for your platform. Then, clone the repository and open the main spunkydb.pro project file in QtCreator. You can build the entire project from here. It's recommended to start with the command line interface (CLI) named spunkydb-cli.

This database is being developed focusing on database design and C++ features that I want to learn rather than being driven by traditional customer or user demands.

Currently, it offers the following user features:

• (All keys below are unicode strings - you can even use smilies!)
• (All set operations also allow the specification of which bucket to store the key within)
• Set a key-value pair (string key->string value)
• Set a key-value pair (string key->set-of-strings value)
• Retrieve a string value for a string key
• Retrieve a set-of-strings value for a string key
• Query the database for all keys in a named (string) bucket

And these administrative features:

• Create a new empty database
• Delete a database and all of its content
• Bucket indexing support (term list)

These data safety and storage features are present:-

• Strongly consistent file kv store (can be used as a data store or a query index store)
• Strongly consistent in-memory kv store (can be used as a data store or a query index store, and as a read cache for an underlying key-value store, such as the file kv store)

While there's no strict roadmap, there are a few design principles I plan to follow:

• Multi-model: Will support various NoSQL, relational, and graph models.
• Advanced querying: Including full-text search, geospatial queries, and even DNA sequences!
• Enterprise grade (eventually): Designed to easily add ACID compliance and deep security features.
• Cloud ready: Will support both scale-out and scale-up configurations to suit your needs, and will be compatible with Kubernetes (when I get around to it).
• Staying current: Will keep up with the latest developments in modern C++ specifications and database theory.
• Configurable for diverse needs: From single-threaded embedded use cases to web-scale applications 😉, supporting everything from eventually consistent high-speed operations to ACID-compliant high durability.