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Comment by fraXis | Hacker News Reader

With you being a fan of .Net, do you have any recommendations for a simple database to use with .Net that can easily be installed onto a customer's computer.

VistaDB was very simple to install. You only had to copy the .dll to the installation directory and it worked.

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The SQLite bindings for .NET are excellent. When I need a lightweight database under .NET (or Ruby or Python or C++) that's the first tool I consider.

The new web-enabled version of SQL Server CE that shipped with WebMatrix is shaping up to be a good option. Going that route gives you a great upgrade path from embedded, to the free SQL Server Express, to the more powerful versions of SQL Server if your needs grow.

I'd guess that the new SQL Server CE release this week had something to do with this VistaDB development.

What does "web enabled" mean?

SQL Server CE 4.0, you deploy the DLL with your app, that's it, no configuration, no setup required.

"WebMatrix" not needed.

The version of SQL Server CE bundled with WebMatrix is the first version of SQL Server CE that will run on a web server. Older versions were good for things like desktop apps, but were restricted from functioning in a server environment.

WebMatrix definitely isn't needed to use it afterward (WebMatrix is just an IDE), but is the easiest (only?) way to get the new version of SQL Server CE right now.

What Encosia said is correct, but I wanted to add a link to ScottGu's announcement that explains in more detail:

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/06/30/new-embedd...

This announcement moves SQL CE fully into the space where it actually competes with Vista DB (previously CE was primarily used only by desktop/mobile/embedded apps). I wonder if that has any bearing on the decision to kill off Vista DB?

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