Sleepycat has put out a new version of its open-source Berkeley DB Java Edition developers database that better hooks up in relationships, moves faster and has improved support for highly concurrent applications.
Berkeley DB Java Edition Version 2.1 features multikey secondary databases that provide direct support for many-to-many and one-to-many relationships.
Also, the update features multithreaded performance improvements using Java 5.
Other new features include controls that let developers optimize concurrency and minimize lock contention, with nonlocking mode and multiple-lock tables.
Another benefit of the update is new documentation for writing transactional applications with the Java Edition, which will come in handy for the increasing number of database customers plugging into Java and open source for building data management systems with a transactional database.
Sleepycats release quoted a customer who testified as to how well the database is suited for keeping up with high volume in a timely manner.
“We use Berkeley DB Java Edition in our Shinola automated advertising solution because it is the best choice to keep up with the volume and response times we require,” Drew Farris, lead engineer at TextWise, is quoted as saying in the release.
“Nothing beats the performance of Berkeley DB Java Edition for storing performance-critical data right where it needs to be. We eliminated a large number of costly remote procedure calls to our back-end relational databases.
“In addition, its flexibility allows us to optimize the data that is retained in the store, which helps us avoid the overhead inherent in other object caching solutions,” Farris said.
Berkeley DB Java Edition 2.1 is available immediately under Sleepycats dual license, which allows redistribution if the application using the database is open source. Sleepycat also has a license for redistribution of proprietary applications.
The database can be downloaded here.