StrangeDB

A simple database built from scratch in C to explore how databases work internally.

StrangeDB is a learning project inspired by the process of building a database from the ground up. The goal is to understand low-level programming concepts, data storage, memory management, and the fundamentals behind database systems by implementing them in C.

Features

• Written in C
• Interactive command-line interface
• SQL-inspired commands such as insert and select
• Row-based data storage
• Fixed-size row fields
• Table capacity limits and error handling
• Automated tests using Bash shell scripts

Note: Features may evolve as development progresses.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• A C compiler, such as GCC
• GNU Make (optional, if using a Makefile)
• Bash for running the test suite
• Git

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Strangerfuture/StrangeDB.git
cd StrangeDB

Compile

Compile the source code with GCC:

gcc -Wall -Wextra -g main.c -o db

Run

./db

Usage

StrangeDB provides an interactive command-line interface.

Example session:

db > insert 1 user1 person1@example.com
Executed.
db > select
(1, user1, person1@example.com)
Executed.
db > .exit

Available Commands

Command	Description
insert <id> <username> <email>	Insert a row into the table
select	Display stored rows
.exit	Exit the database program

Learning Goals

This project is intended to explore:

• C programming and pointers
• Structures and data representation
• Memory allocation and management
• Command parsing and input validation
• Database rows and table layouts
• Error handling
• Automated testing
• Low-level software design

Project Structure

StrangeDB/
├── db.c
├── tests/
│   └── test.sh
└── README.md

The project structure may change as new components are added.

Roadmap

Potential areas for future development:

• Improve input validation and error handling
• Implement persistent storage
• Introduce page-based storage
• Explore a B-tree indexing structure
• Add more automated tests
• Improve the command-line interface

Motivation

The purpose of StrangeDB is to learn how database systems work beneath the surface rather than relying entirely on existing database libraries.

By building each component step by step, this project aims to develop a deeper understanding of C, systems programming, and database internals.