Firebird (database server)

Infobox_Software
name = Firebird



caption =
developer = [http://www.firebirdsql.org Firebird Project]
latest release version = 2.1.1
latest release date = 16 July 2008
latest preview version = 2.5 Alpha 1| latest preview date = 12 July 2008
programming language = C++
operating system = Cross-platform
genre = RDBMS
license = [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc&id=ipl IPL] , [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc&id=idpl IDPL]
website = [http://www.firebirdsql.org/ www.firebirdsql.org]

Firebird (sometimes erroneously called FirebirdSQL) is a relational database management system offering many ANSI features. It runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms. Started as a fork of Borland's open source release of InterBase, the Firebird codebase is maintained by the Firebird Project at SourceForge.

New code modules added to Firebird are licensed under the [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc&id=idpl Initial Developer's Public License] (IDPL). The original code released by Inprise (as Borland was then called) is licensed under the [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc&id=ipl InterBase Public License 1.0] . Both licenses are modified versions of the Mozilla Public License 1.1.

History

Firebird 1.0 was essentially a bug-fixed version of the InterBase 6.0 open source edition with some minor new features. Development on the [http://firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net/firebird/firebird2/ Firebird 2 codebase] began with the porting of the [http://firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net/firebird/interbase/ Firebird 1.0 C code] to C++, together with a major code-cleaning undertaking. Firebird 1.5 was the first release of the Firebird 2 codebase and as such a significant milestone for the developers and the whole project.

* Firebird 2.0 was released in 2006. The latest stable version is 2.0.4 which was released in April 2008.

* Firebird 2.1 was released on 18 April 2008. [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=files&id=engine_210]

* Firebird 2.5 is currently in development; an alpha version is expected in the first quarter of 2008, the final by last Quarter of 2008. [http://firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=devel&sub=engine&id=roadmap_2008&nosb=1]

* Firebird 3.0 will merge code from several codebases, including Firebird 2.1, Vulcan, and Fyracle; an alpha version is scheduled for release in Q4 2008. [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=devel&sub=engine&id=roadmap_2008&nosb=1]

Around the 20th birthday of the InterBase/Firebird product line, original creator Jim Starkey recollected::"September 4, 2004 is the 20th anniversary of what is now Firebird. I quit my job at DEC in August, took a three day end-of-summer holiday, and began work on September 4, 1984 in my new career as a software entrepreneur. As best as I can reconstruct, the first two files were cpre.c and cpre.h (C preprocessor), later changed to [http://firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net/firebird/interbase/gpre/gpre.c?rev=1.7&view=auto gpre.c] and [http://firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net/firebird/interbase/gpre/gpre.h?rev=1.5&view=auto gpre.h] . The files were created on a loaner [http://www.vintage-computer.com/dec_pro_350.shtml DEC Pro/350] , a PDP-11 personal computer that went exactly nowhere, running XENIX. Gpre was my first C program, XENIX was my first experience with Unix, and the Pro/350 was my very last (but not lamented) experience with PDP-11s."

More information on Firebird's history can be found on the [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=history InterBase/Firebird History pages] .

Current version

The most recent stable version is [http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=devel&sub=engine&id=fb210_release Firebird 2.1] . The Firebird 2.1 release contains a large number of new features, including the long-awaited global temporary tables, a catalogue of new run-time monitoring mechanisms, database triggers and the injection of dozens of internal functions into the SQL language set, as well as numerous other improvements and bug fixes.

The complete [http://www.firebirdsql.org/rlsnotes/Firebird-2.1-ReleaseNotes.pdf Release Notes] are available in PDF format or [http://www.firebirdsql.org/rlsnotesh/rlsnotes210.html HTML version]

Features

* Full support of Stored Procedures and Triggerscite web | url = http://www.firebirdnews.org/docs/fb2min.html | title = Get to know Firebird in 2 minutes]
* Full ACID compliant transactions
* Referential Integrity
* Multi Generational Architecture (sometimes called MVCC)
* Very small footprint
* Fully featured internal language for Stored Procedures and Triggers (PSQL)
* Support for External Functions (UDFs)
* Little or no need for specialized DBAs
* Almost no configuration needed - just install and start using
* Big community and lots of places where you can get free and good support
* Optional single file embedded version - great to create CDROM catalogs, single user or evaluation versions of applications
* Dozens of third party tools, including GUI administrative tools, replication tools, etc.
* Careful writes - fast recovery, no need for transaction logs
* Many ways to access your database: native/API, dbExpress drivers, ODBC, OLEDB, .Net provider, JDBC native type 4 driver, Python module, PHP, Perl, etc.
* Native support for all major operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS.
* Incremental Backups
* 64-bit builds available
* Full cursor implementation in PSQL

User documentation

The Firebird 2.1 and 2.0.4 Quick Start Guide is available on-line as a multi-page [http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/qsg2.html HTML document] as well as in [http://www.firebirdsql.org/pdfmanual/Firebird-2-QuickStart.pdf PDF format] . A short introductory paper, [http://www.firebirdnews.org/docs/fb2min.html Get to know Firebird in two minutes] , has been translated into more than a dozen languages. The full Firebird Documentation Index is at http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc.

Mozilla Firefox name clash

In April 2003, the Mozilla Foundation decided to rename their web browser from "Phoenix" to "Firebird" after a trademark dispute with Phoenix Technologies. This decision caused concern within the Firebird database project due to the assumption that users would be confused by a database and a web browser both using the name Firebird. The dispute continued until the Mozilla developers issued a statement making clear that their software package was called "Mozilla Firebird", not "Firebird". The statement also said that the Mozilla Firebird name was a project codename. On February 9, 2004, Mozilla renamed its browser Mozilla Firefox, thus [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/firefox-name-faq.html ending the confusion] .

References

See also

*List of relational database management systems
*Comparison of relational database management systems
*Fyracle

External links

* [http://www.firebirdsql.org Firebird - Project website]
* [http://www.ibphoenix.com IBPhoenix] - Firebird Portal
* [http://www.firebirdnews.org FirebirdNews] - Major source of Firebird related news
* [http://www.flamerobin.org/ FlameRobin] - cross-platform Administration tool for Firebird, Open Source under MIT license
* [http://www.Yaffil.ru Yaffil] - ex-fork of Firebird 1.x, when its development was stalled. Now merged back to main stream.
* [http://www.interbase-world.com/en/community/interviews/577.php Interview with Jim Starkey] , original creator of what would later become Firebird.
* [http://www.sqlly.com/formatcode.html Firebird SQL Code Formatter] , online service.
* [http://www.collation-charts.org/firebird20/ Firebird collations] , charts.
* [http://www.ibprovider.com/eng/documentation.html Firebird documentation by IBProvider]
* [http://www.firebase.com.br FireBase - Biggest Firebird portal (in portuguese)]
* [http://www.firebirdfaq.org FirebirdFAQ]