Differences between PouchDB and CouchBase Lite + L

In a Phonegap offline/online project:

What is the difference between using PouchDB and using CouchBase Lite with the new LiteGap plugin?
Are they two different solutions to the same problem?
Can the PouchDB API be used to interact with a local CouchBase Lite database?

回答1:

After some research and being a relatively new topic, i thought it would be interesting to share my experiences replying my own question:

What is the difference between using PouchDB and using CouchBase Lite with the new LiteGap plugin?

PouchDB can create a local database (websql or IndexedDB) on the device and replicate it with an external CouchDB. Also can be used as a client for an external CouchDB.

Couchbase Lite creates a iOS/Android database on the device, accesible by default on http://localhost:5984. You can then replicate the local Couchbase Lite with other external Couchbase/CouchDB services. LiteGap allows you to create and use a Couchbase Lite db in a PhoneGap project.

Both solutions are available to use on a Phonegap project.

Are they two different solutions to the same problem?

In short, no.

PouchDB is cross-platform so you can use it in a web project and also in a hybrid app. Also it provides a useful API to interact directly with a local db or external CouchDB. Being based on websql/IndexedDB technologies, you have storage limitations that keep asking the user to allow more local storage space for your web/app.

Couchbase Lite is a native iOS/Android solution that sets a Couchbase database in the device localhost. Together with the LiteGap plugin, you can use it in a Phonegap project.

Can the PouchDB API be used to interact with a local CouchBase Lite database?

Yes, but some functionality was not working as expected in my tests.

First, Couchbase Lite has no javascript HTTP API so i thought to use Pouch to act just as client. PouchDB can use external Couch services, so we setup Pouch to use the device Couchbase Lite on localhost:5984.

Now, with Pouch you can create a database, put() or replicate from local to the cloud. However, i found problems replicating from cloud to local using Pouch's replicate.from method. One workaround to that is to setup 2-way replication using good old $.ajax to post to the device's http://localhost:5984/_replicate as if you were using node curl (passing object data with source, target, continous etc..).

I hope this helps to someone taking decisions on which technologies use when creating a offline/online syncable hybrid app.

回答2:

Just wanted to let you know that I've written an extensive performance review showing the differences between CouchDB and Couchbase Lite.

Some findings:

PouchDB wins when "adding bulk documents" and "getting an document by id"
Couchbase Lite wins when "getting all documents"
they draw when "querying a document via view" (PouchDB is faster but Couchbase Lite has caching)

回答3:

In addition to the 2 other answers, here is an example application from Couchbase.com blog site, of how to build a todo list application with pouchDB and sync it with CouchBase Mobile.

Another link, on Blackberry developers blog