Firebird (database server)

Within a week of the InterBase 6.0 source being released by Borland on 25 July 2000,{{cite news | title=Inprise/Borland Introduces InterBase 6.0 Now Free and Open Source on Linux, Windows, and Solaris | date=16 July 2000 | url=http://www.borland.com/news/press_releases/2000/07_16_00_ib6.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041206174134/http://www.borland.com/news/press_releases/2000/07_16_00_ib6.html | archive-date=6 December 2004 | access-date=29 January 2009 | url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-07-25-004-06-PR-SV-SW |title=Borland.com: Inprise/Borland Introduces Interbase 6.0 Now Free and Open Source on Linux |access-date=29 January 2009 |publisher=Linux Today |archive-date=30 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630215131/http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-07-25-004-06-PR-SV-SW |url-status=dead }} the Firebird project was created on SourceForge.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/historical-reference/ |title=Firebird History |access-date=14 March 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ibphoenix.com/resources/documents/search/doc_14 |title=What's happening to InterBase |access-date=14 March 2014 |publisher=Borland User Group |author=Paul Reeves |pages=2}} Firebird 1.0 was released for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on 11 March 2002,{{cite web |url=http://wwwnfs.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_old_news&next=Y&skip=2029 |title=IBPhoenix Community News Archive |access-date=29 January 2009 |date=11 March 2000 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} with ports to Solaris, FreeBSD 4, HP-UX over the next two months.{{cite web |url=http://wwwnfs.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_old_news&next=Y&skip=2015 |title=IBPhoenix Community News Archive |date=11 April 2000 |access-date=29 January 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Work on porting the codebase from C to C++ began in 2000. On 23 February 2004, Firebird 1.5 was released,{{cite news |url=http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/23/201230 |title=Firebird Relational Database 1.5 Final Out |access-date=31 January 2009 |publisher=Slashdot |date=23 February 2004}} which was the first stable release of the new codebase. Version 1.5 featured an improved query optimizer, SQL-92 conditional expressions, SQL:1999 savepoints and support for explicit locking.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/rlsnotesh/rlsnotes15.html |title=Firebird 1.5.6 Release Notes |author=Helen Borrie |access-date=10 June 2012 |publisher=Firebird Project |date=5 October 2009}} Firebird 2.0 was released on 12 November 2006,{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=devjournal&id=djarchive&no_rss=1#00022.jnl |title=Firebird 2.0 Final Release Launches in Prague |author=Dmitry Yemanov |access-date=5 February 2009}} adding support for 64-bit architectures, tables nested in FROM clauses, and programmable lock timeouts in blocking transactions.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/rlsnotesh/rlsnotes207.html |title=Firebird 2.0.7 Release Notes |author=Helen Borrie |date=5 April 2012 |access-date=10 June 2012}}

Version 2.1.6 added new features including procedural triggers, recursive queries, and support for SQL:2003 MERGE statements.{{cite web |url=http://firebirdsql.org/rlsnotesh/rlsnotes210.html#rnfb210-new-feat |title=Firebird 2.1 Release Notes |author=Helen Borrie |date=20 July 2014 |access-date=20 July 2014}}

Firebird 2.5 introduced new features like improved multithreading, regular expression syntax and the ability to query remote databases.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/file/documentation/release_notes/html/rlsnotes255.html |title=Firebird 2.5.5 Release Notes |author=Helen Borrie|date=19 November 2015 |access-date=19 November 2015}}

Firebird 3.0 was released in 19 April 2016, with a focus in performance and security. A major re-architecture of the code allowed total support to SMP machines when using the SuperServer version.{{Cite web|url=https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/firebird-projects-firebird-relational-database|title=The Firebird Project's Firebird Relational Database {{!}} Linux Journal|last=Gray|first=James|date=2016-07-29|website=www.linuxjournal.com|publisher=Linux Journal|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200301170416/https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/firebird-projects-firebird-relational-database|archive-date=2020-03-01|access-date=2020-03-01}}

Through the Google Summer of Code 2013 work has begun on integrating Firebird as a replacement for HSQLDB in LibreOffice Base.{{cite web|url=http://www.firebirdnews.org/?p=6610|title=Firebird Embedded and LibreOffice is the killer combination to scale from a single file application to a client/server approach|date=14 February 2012|author=mariuz|publisher=Firebirdnews.org|access-date=8 July 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ahunt.org/2013/05/gsoc-2013-libreoffice-firebird-sql-connector/|access-date=8 July 2013|title=GSOC 2013: LibreOffice Firebird SQL Connector|date=28 May 2013|author=ahunt}}

In April 2003, the Mozilla Organization announced a rename of its web browser from Phoenix to Firebird after a trademark dispute with Phoenix Technologies.{{cite web|url = http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=3075|title = Phoenix and Minotaur to be renamed Firebird and Thunderbird|date = 14 April 2003|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = MozillaZine|last = Dotzler|first = Asa}}

This decision caused concern within the Firebird database project due to the assumption that users and Internet search engines would be confused by a database and a web browser both using the name Firebird.{{citation |url = http://www.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_Mozilla0|title = Mozilla browser becomes Firebird|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030423114611/http://www.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_Mozilla0|archive-date = 2003-04-23|access-date = 2016-01-29|url-status = dead|publisher = IBPhoenix}}{{cite web|url = http://www.mozillazine.org/articles/article3097.html|title = Firebird Database Project Admin Ann Harrison Interviewed|date = 21 April 2003|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = MozillaZine|last = Bishop|first = Alex}} The Mozilla developers issued a statement,{{cite web|url = https://www.mozilla.org/roadmap/branding.html|title = mozilla branding|date = 25 April 2003|access-date = 31 January 2016|publisher = The Mozilla Organization|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030426081552/http://www.mozilla.org/roadmap/branding.html|archive-date=26 April 2003 |url-status = dead}} making clear that their software package was called "Mozilla Firebird", not "Firebird".{{cite web|url = http://www.cnet.com/news/mozillas-firebird-gets-wings-clipped/|title = Mozilla's Firebird gets wings clipped|date = 7 May 2003|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = CNET|publisher = CBS Interactive|last = Festa|first = Paul}}{{cite web|url = http://www.mozillazine.org/articles/article3169.html|title = Christopher Blizzard of mozilla.org speaks on the Firebird naming conflict|date = 14 May 2003|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = MozillaZine|last = Bishop|first = Alex}} The statement also said that the Mozilla Firebird name was a project codename.

The dispute was resolved on 9 February 2004, when Mozilla changed the name of its browser to Mozilla Firefox, thus ending the conflict.{{cite web |url = http://www.cnet.com/news/mozilla-holds-fire-in-naming-fight/|title = Mozilla holds 'fire' in naming fight|author = Paul Festa|date = 9 February 2004|work = CNET|publisher = CBS Interactive|access-date = 29 January 2016}}{{cite web|url = http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=4278|title = Mozilla Firebird Renamed Firefox, Version 0.8 Released|date = 9 February 2004|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = MozillaZine}}{{cite web|url = https://www-archive.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/firefox-name-faq.html|title = Mozilla Firefox - Brand Name Frequently Asked Questions|access-date = 29 January 2016|website = mozilla.org|publisher = Mozilla Foundation}}

• Full support for stored procedures and triggers{{cite 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){{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/multi-version-concurrency-control/| title=A not-so-very technical discussion of Multi Version Concurrency Control |access-date=21 November 2011 | author=Roman Rokytskyy }}
• Support for External Functions (UDFs)
• SQL activity can send asynchronous notification events to clients
• Third-party tools, including GUI administrative tools and replication tools
• Careful writes - fast recovery, no need for transaction logs
• Many access methods: native/API, dbExpress/FireDAC{{cite web | url = http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/XE5/en/Connect_to_Firebird_(FireDAC)| title = Connect to Firebird (FireDAC) }}FireDAC drivers, ODBC, OLE DB, .NET provider, JDBC native type 4 driver, Python module,{{Cite web|url=https://pypi.python.org/pypi/fdb/|title=FDB: The Python driver for Firebird}} PHP, Perl
• Incremental backups
• Full cursor implementation in PSQL

Firebird inherited the storage architecture of Interbase. To ensure the ACID properties of transactions, the database engine keeps different versions of each record changed by the active users in the database. When the transactions are committed, the last version of every changed record is marked as the definitive. If transactions are rolled back, the database engine keeps the mark on the original record versions, leaving them untouched.{{cite web | url=http://www.ibexpert.info/ibe/index.php?n=Doc.Multi-generationalArchitectureMGAAndRecordVersioning | title=Multi-generational architecture (MGA) and record versioning | work=HK-Software | access-date=14 July 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001070724/http://www.ibexpert.info/ibe/index.php?n=Doc.Multi-generationalArchitectureMGAAndRecordVersioning | archive-date=1 October 2011 | url-status=dead }} As a result, Firebird disk writes are very reduced compared to databases that use the traditional transaction log architecture.{{cite web | url=http://www.ibphoenix.com/resources/documents/community/doc_296 | title=Interview with Jim Starkey from InterBase World | work=Marina Novikova, InterBase World |access-date=14 July 2011}} Writing transactions does not prevent reading and vice versa, because each one sees its own version of the database.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdfaq.org/faq44/ | title=What is Multi Generational Architecture (MGA)? | work=The Firebird FAQ | access-date=14 July 2011}} The tradeoff is that some maintenance ("sweeping") is required from time to time to clean up old record versions and free disk space.{{cite web | url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/gfix-housekeeping.html | title=Database Housekeeping And Garbage Collection | work=The Firebird Project | access-date= 14 July 2011}}

The multi-generational architecture ensures that OLTP and DSS/OLAP operations can be run simultaneously without the delays caused by locking mechanisms found in other products.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdfaq.org/faq44/ | title=What is Multi Generational Architecture (MGA)? | work=The Firebird FAQ | access-date=14 July 2011}}

Firebird makes all indices of the database behave like well-tuned "clustered indexes" used by other architectures. Firebird index buckets aren't subject to two-phase locking, and boolean "and" and "or" operations can be performed on intermediate bitmaps at a negligible cost, eliminating the need for the optimizer to choose between alternative indexes.{{cite web | url=http://www.ibphoenix.com/resources/documents/community/doc_296 | title=Interview with Jim Starkey from InterBase World | work=Marina Novikova, InterBase World |access-date=14 July 2011}}

• Firebird SuperServer has a single daemon/server for all client connections, multithreaded with shared cache
• Firebird SuperClassic also has a single daemon/server for all client connections, multithreaded with separate caches
• Firebird Classic uses inetd to run one copy of the server per client connection, recommended for SMP systems but might have event-notification issues if access is via a firewall
• Firebird Embedded for creating CD-ROM catalogs, single user or evaluation versions of applications

The Firebird database engine and its modules are released under an open-source license, the Initial Developer's Public License (IDPL), a variant of the Mozilla Public License (MPL) version 1.1. It does not require the developer to open the products using Firebird or even custom-derivatives made from its source code, but if the developer chooses to do so, then some terms and conditions should be honored. The IDPL allows the developer to make proprietary, closed-source applications that use Firebird or are based on it.{{cite web |url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/initial-developer-s-public-license-version-1-0/ | title=Firebird: Initial Developer's Public License Version 1.0 |work=Firebird Project|access-date=13 July 2011}}

The Firebird native API is used directly or indirectly by applications or middleware that connect to a Firebird database. It is implemented in the client library, fbclient.dll, on Windows systems, and in libfbclient.so on Unix ones.{{cite web | url= http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/ufb-cs-clientlib.html | title=The Firebird client library | work=The Firebird Project | access-date= 14 July 2011}}

The Services API is a special function set for accessing and controlling service administration tasks such as user management, backup/restore and statistics gathering.

Embedded SQL is a technique that simplifies the development of C/C++ and COBOL Firebird applications, by using a preprocessor called gpre, which allows the embedding of SQL statements directly into the source code of the host language.{{cite web | url=http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/ufb-cs-appdev.html|title=Application development | work= The Firebird Project | access-date=14 July 2011}}

• 2007. SourceForge Community Choice Award: Best Project for enterprise, Best user support.{{cite web | url=http://sourceforge.net/blog/cca07/ | title=SourceForge.net 2007 Community Choice Awards Winners | work=SourceForge.net | date=15 June 2007 | access-date=13 July 2011}}
• 2009. SourceForge Community Choice Award: Best Project for enterprise. Finalist on Best Project and Best Project for Government.{{cite web | url=http://sourceforge.net/blog/cca09/winners/ | title=SourceForge.net: 2009 CCA: Winners | work=SourceForge.net | date=28 July 2009 | access-date=13 July 2011}}

{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

• Comparison of relational database management systems
• List of relational database management systems
• Multiversion concurrency control

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://www.ibphoenix.com/ Firebird - Developer portal]
• [http://www.collation-charts.org/firebird20/ Firebird collations], charts.
• [https://www.ibprovider.com/eng/documentation.html Firebird documentation by IBProvider]
• [http://www.firebirdfaq.org FirebirdFAQ]
• [https://www.firebirdnews.org/ FirebirdNews] - News about Firebird and related projects
• [https://www.firebirdnews.org/migration-guide-to-firebird-3/ Migration Guide to Firebird 3] - eBook
• [https://www.ibprovider.com/eng/ Firebird Ole Db Driver (alternative for ODBC)]
• [https://github.com/FirebirdSQL/jaybird Jaybird – JDBC driver for Firebird (on github.com)]
• [https://www.firebirdsql.org/en/jdbc-driver/ Jaybird – JDBC driver for Firebird (on firebirdsql.org)]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Free database management systems

Category:Cross-platform software

Category:Relational database management systems

Category:Client-server database management systems

Category:Relational database management software for Linux

Category:Formerly proprietary software