CockroachDB, the database that just won’t die

There is an art to engineering and sometimes engineering can transform art. For Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis, the two worlds collided when they created the open-source graphics program, GIMP. Continue reading CockroachDB, the database that just won’t die

How engineers fought the CAP theorem in the global war on latency

The founders of Cockroach Labs wanted to ensure data written in one location would be viewable immediately anywhere on the planet. The use case was simple, but the work needed was herculean. Continue reading How engineers fought the CAP theorem in the global war on latency

“Developers, as you know, do not like to pay for things”

Cockroach Labs has many things going for it. The company’s approach to distributed database technology is novel, and it has the potential to gain significant market share internationally. Continue reading “Developers, as you know, do not like to pay for things”

Scaling CockroachDB in the red ocean of relational databases

CockroachDB’s success is not guaranteed. It has to overcome significant hurdles to secure a profitable place among well-established database technologies owned by companies with very deep pockets. Continue reading Scaling CockroachDB in the red ocean of relational databases

How Expensify hacked its way to a robust, scalable tech stack

Take a close look at any ambitious startup and you’ll find pugnacity nestled in its core. Stubbornness and a bullheaded belief in the worth of what a company wants to bring to fruition is often the biggest driver of its success. Continue reading How Expensify hacked its way to a robust, scalable tech stack

Apollo raises $22M for its GraphQL platform

Apollo, a San Francisco-based startup that provides a number of developer and operator tools and services around the GraphQL query language, today announced that it has raised a $22 million growth funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Matrix Partners. Existing investors Trinity Ventures and Webb Investment Network also participated in this round. Today, Apollo […] Continue reading Apollo raises $22M for its GraphQL platform

Microsoft acquires Citus Data

Microsoft today announced that it has acquired Citus Data, a company that focused on making PostgreSQL database faster and more scalable. Citus’ open source PostgreSQL extension essentially turns the application into a distributed database and while there has been a lot of hype around the NoSQL movement and document stores, relational database — and especially PostgreSQL […] Continue reading Microsoft acquires Citus Data

Google’s Cloud Spanner database adds new features and regions

Cloud Spanner, Google’s globally distributed relational database service, is getting a bit more distributed today with the launch of a new region and new ways to set up multi-region configurations. The service is also getting a new feature that gives developers deeper insights into their most resource-consuming queries. With this update, Google is adding to […] Continue reading Google’s Cloud Spanner database adds new features and regions

Salesforce is using AI to democratize SQL so anyone can query databases in natural language

 SQL is about as easy as it gets in the world of programming, and yet its learning curve is still steep enough to prevent many people from interacting with relational databases. Salesforce’s AI research team took it upon itself to explore how machine learning might be able to open doors for those without knowledge of SQL. Read More Continue reading Salesforce is using AI to democratize SQL so anyone can query databases in natural language