Project Description: Sqitch

What is the project about?

Sqitch is a database-agnostic change management system. It allows you to manage and deploy database schema changes in a controlled and reliable way, without being tied to a specific framework or ORM.

What problem does it solve?

Sqitch addresses the challenges of managing database schema changes across different environments (development, testing, production) and ensures that changes are applied consistently and in the correct order. It avoids the problems associated with manual schema updates and ad-hoc migration scripts. It provides a way to manage database changes that is:

• Framework-agnostic: Works with any application stack.
• Version-controlled: Integrates with version control systems (like Git).
• Repeatable: Ensures consistent deployments across environments.
• Dependency-aware: Handles complex relationships between schema changes.
• Testable: Supports iterative development and testing of database changes.

What are the features of the project?

• Standalone and Framework-Agnostic: Not tied to any specific framework, ORM, or platform.
• Native Scripting: Uses SQL scripts native to the target database engine (e.g., psql for PostgreSQL, SQL*Plus for Oracle).
• Dependency Management: Allows defining dependencies between database changes, ensuring correct execution order.
• Deployment Integrity: Uses a Merkle tree-based plan file (similar to Git) to guarantee that changes are applied as intended.
• Iterative Development: Changes can be modified until they are tagged and released, supporting iterative schema design.
• Multi-Database Support: Supports a wide range of database engines, including PostgreSQL, YugabyteDB, CockroachDB, SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, Firebird, Vertica, Exasol, and Snowflake.
• No Required Numbering: Changes don't need to be numbered; Sqitch manages the order based on dependencies and the plan file.

What are the technologies used in the project?

• Perl: The core Sqitch application is written in Perl.
• SQL: Database changes are implemented using native SQL scripts for each supported database.
• Database Drivers: Uses appropriate database drivers (e.g., DBD::Pg for PostgreSQL, DBD::mysql for MySQL) to connect to and manage different databases.
• Version Control System (VCS) Integration: Designed to work seamlessly with VCS like Git.
• Build Tools: Uses Build.PL and Dist::Zilla (for development builds).

What are the benefits of the project?

• Reliability: Ensures consistent and predictable database deployments.
• Maintainability: Simplifies database schema management and reduces errors.
• Collaboration: Facilitates teamwork by providing a clear and version-controlled approach to database changes.
• Flexibility: Works with various database engines and development environments.
• Testability: Supports iterative development and testing of database changes.
• Integrity: Guarantees that changes are applied in the correct order and that the database schema is consistent across environments.

What are the use cases of the project?

• Managing database schema changes in software projects: Ideal for any project that involves a database, from small applications to large enterprise systems.
• Deploying database updates across multiple environments: Ensures consistency between development, testing, staging, and production databases.
• Collaborative database development: Allows multiple developers to work on database changes concurrently, with proper version control and dependency management.
• Iterative database design: Supports a test-driven or iterative approach to developing and refining database schemas.
• Database refactoring: Provides a safe and controlled way to make significant changes to an existing database schema.
• Auditing database changes: The plan file and version control history provide a clear audit trail of all database modifications.