I too miss WebSQL. Every time I have to spend time changing my code to simulate what would be a simple SQL join, I wonder if we didn't adhere a bit too much to dogma.
The complaints about WebSQL being tied to a a specific library remind me of the "Linux shall really be GNU OS with a kernel and user-installed non-OSS stuff, and we're happy that non-techies will have to compile their own multimedia tools" or "Thunderbird will always put -- as a sig separator, b/c that's the way it has always been" arguments.
Perhaps if we make the standard we want, and let implementation rest in the hands of implementors, then we can get the KV store AND a SQL store, since they solve different problems in different ways.
This does remind me of the recently posted Marco Arment post, http://www.marco.org/2012/02/25/right-vs-pragmatic, of doing what your users want instead of what you want in some cases. Some devs really liked what WebSQL offered, or could use a good KV store... but due to purist principles, we are stuck with where we are.
I really never understood the WebSQL single-implementation problem. It doesn't have to be - SQLite is public domain. Fork it. Maybe even change it so it fits a bit more smoothly with JS. But instead we invent something new, with new optimization problems, new usage annoyances, new inconsistencies between browsers...?
Yeah, plus there's already a "single implementation" thing with HTML5, since most of the browsers have moved to use a common parser based off Java code (in some cases, translated automatically to C++).
I currently use WebSQL for offline capabilities in my app. Just have no interest at all in learning IndexedDB, especially when WebSQL is still supported and when its similar enough to other SQL technologies that I don't have to spend to much time learning it.
The complaints about WebSQL being tied to a a specific library remind me of the "Linux shall really be GNU OS with a kernel and user-installed non-OSS stuff, and we're happy that non-techies will have to compile their own multimedia tools" or "Thunderbird will always put -- as a sig separator, b/c that's the way it has always been" arguments.
Perhaps if we make the standard we want, and let implementation rest in the hands of implementors, then we can get the KV store AND a SQL store, since they solve different problems in different ways.
This does remind me of the recently posted Marco Arment post, http://www.marco.org/2012/02/25/right-vs-pragmatic, of doing what your users want instead of what you want in some cases. Some devs really liked what WebSQL offered, or could use a good KV store... but due to purist principles, we are stuck with where we are.