Rewriting SQLite from scratch (yes, really)

Want to learn more about SQLite? Check out my course on SQLite: https://highperformancesqlite.com/?re... In this episode of Database School, I chat with Glauber Costa, CEO of Turso, about their audacious decision to rewrite SQLite from the ground up. We cover the technical motivations, open contribution philosophy, and how deterministic simulation testing is unlocking new levels of reliability. Get your free SQLite reference guide: https://highperformancesqlite.com/pro.... Follow Glauber: Twitter:   / glcst   Turso: https://tur.so/af Follow Aaron: Twitter:   / aarondfrancis   LinkedIn:   / aarondfrancis   Website: https://aaronfrancis.com - find articles, podcasts, courses, and more. Database school: https://databaseschool.com Chapters: 00:00 - Intro to guest Glauber Costa 00:58 - Glauber's background and path to databases 02:23 - Moving to Texas and life changes 05:32 - The origin story of Turso 07:55 - Why fork SQLite in the first place? 10:28 - SQLite’s closed contribution model 12:00 - Launching libSQL as an open contribution fork 13:43 - Building Turso Cloud for serverless SQLite 14:57 - Limitations of forking SQLite 17:00 - Deciding to rewrite SQLite from scratch 19:08 - Branding mistakes and naming decisions 22:29 - Differentiating Turso (the database) from Turso Cloud 24:00 - Technical barriers that led to the rewrite 28:00 - Why libSQL plateaued for deeper improvements 30:14 - Big business partner request leads to deeper rethink 31:23 - The rewrite begins 33:36 - Early community traction and GitHub stars 35:00 - Hiring contributors from the community 36:58 - Reigniting the original vision 39:40 - Turso’s core business thesis 42:00 - Fully pivoting the company around the rewrite 45:16 - How GitHub contributors signal business alignment 47:10 - SQLite’s rock-solid rep and test suite challenges 49:00 - The magic of deterministic simulation testing 53:00 - How the simulator injects and replays IO failures 56:00 - The role of property-based testing 58:54 - Offering cash for bugs that break data integrity 1:01:05 - Deterministic testing vs traditional testing 1:03:44 - What it took to release Turso Alpha 1:05:50 - Encouraging contributors with real incentives 1:07:50 - How to get involved and contribute 1:20:00 - Upcoming roadmap: indexes, CDC, schema changes 1:23:40 - Final thoughts and where to find Turso