Eve of Sleepycat

Apache Leader: Berkeley DB Java Edition Eases Hand-Rolling "In the case of the Apache Directory Project, Karasulu says the project members are so convinced that Sleepycat's pure-Java database will become the "de facto standard Java API for manipulating B-tree databases" that they're basing the project's pure-Java LDAP directory server, called Eve, on back-ends built using Berkeley DB Java Edition."

"Who's building applications in Java? Does it span the spectrum?

I think so. People can use a B-tree anywhere a fast, relatively constant time lookup is needed, regardless of the size of the data. This happens all over the place.

We're actually in the process of building an embeddable, pure-Java LDAP server called Eve. She's a beaut, introducing triggers and stored procedures to the world of LDAP. "

" What do you think of Berkeley DB Java Edition's performance capabilities?

It uses NIO [new input/output], which should have a considerable effect on performance due to the way memory is accessed. The NIO packages are new APIs that allow Java to have the power of C where IO is concerned. These APIs are new in the 1.4 JDK and make Java-based servers much more effective. Furthermore, a binding API makes mapping objects to records very intuitive while avoiding the overheads in serialization.

Other implementations often leave this up to users, who often use serialization and wind up paying for it with a massive performance hit. "

There was also a recent comparison between C++ and Java showing Java is faster in all but three tests.