Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
firebase.googleblog.com
Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
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Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#2[Firebase founder] This new database has been in the works for 2.5 years, since shortly after we joined Google. It was developed in close collaboration with the Cloud Datastore[1] team, and uses Google’s core database infrastructure.
We built it because we know it can be challenging to build complex apps with our original database -- Firebase Realtime Database -- where we optimized for ease-of-use & real-time sync over querying functionality. For more info, see this comparison between the two[2].
This is a open beta launch, so the product has limitations[3] you should be aware of. We’ll be working to remove/raise these before General Availability.
A note on naming: Firebase launched in 2012[4] with a single product, the original database. As we added products (Firebase Auth / Firebase Hosting / etc), we began calling the original product ‘Firebase Realtime Database’, or RTDB for short. If you haven’t followed us lately, we’ve grown to become Google’s app platform, and now have 16 products to help you build/grow apps.
We’re grateful for the support HN has given us over the years and we hope you enjoy Cloud Firestore!
[1] https://cloud.google.com/datastore/ [2] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/rtdb-vs-firestore [3] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/quotas [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3832877
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#3> Document Database for Apps
From linked page:
> designed to easily store and sync app data
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but that's not what I understand a "document" to be.
For me a document
- is a file that can be stored on a file system
- can be send via mail
- is using a standard document representation so can be used by different applications, such as markup (XML, HTML, SGML), or maybe PDF
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#4> Document Database for Apps From linked page: > designed to easily store and sync app data Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but that's not what I understand a "document" to be. For me a document - is a file that can be stored on a file system - can be send via mail - is using a standard document representation so can be used by different applications, such as markup (XML, HTML, SGML), or maybe PDF
I can see how that might be confusing. We are using "Document" as it's used in database circles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document-oriented_database
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#5How is this different than using datastore?
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#6[Firebase founder] This new database has been in the works for 2.5 years, since shortly after we joined Google. It was developed in close collaboration with the Cloud Datastore[1] team, and uses Google’s core database infrastructure. We built it because we know it can be challenging to build complex apps with our original database -- Firebase Realtime Database -- where we optimized for ease-of-use & real-time sync ov…
Very exciting. I found this to be the one "missing piece" keeping me from being able to build a whole app on Firebase when checking it out earlier this year. One question though, will this support BLOBs like GridFS?
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#7[Firebase founder] This new database has been in the works for 2.5 years, since shortly after we joined Google. It was developed in close collaboration with the Cloud Datastore[1] team, and uses Google’s core database infrastructure. We built it because we know it can be challenging to build complex apps with our original database -- Firebase Realtime Database -- where we optimized for ease-of-use & real-time sync ov…
Very exciting. I found this to be the one "missing piece" keeping me from being able to build a whole app on Firebase when checking it out earlier this year. One question though, will this support BLOBs like GridFS?
You can store Blob data, but the maximum size of a single document is still 1MB. If you need to store larger blobs check out Cloud Storage for Firebase.
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#8How is this different than using datastore?
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Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#9How is this different than using datastore?
Great question! I'm the PM for both Cloud Datastore and Cloud Firestore.
The biggest difference is the integration with Firebase, so you have access to Mobile (iOS/Android) and Web SDKs along with a native offline mode. This comes along with the real-time synchronization feature that makes serverless app development a breeze.
Cloud Datastore is great for large scale server-side development where you manage your own connection to your app, such as running your own website on App Engine or via Compute/Container Engine.
Re: Cloud Firestore: A New Document Database for Apps
#10> Document Database for Apps From linked page: > designed to easily store and sync app data Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but that's not what I understand a "document" to be. For me a document - is a file that can be stored on a file system - can be send via mail - is using a standard document representation so can be used by different applications, such as markup (XML, HTML, SGML), or maybe PDF
Why the downvote ? The person is polite and genuinly doesn't know something.
Just answer.
Besides, a "document database", like many term in computing, can be very confusing. Come on, we all had to be explained what the difference is between a software server vs hardware. This is not different.