Five SQLite Tips and Tricks

SQLite is a lightweight, self-contained SQL database engine.
The entire database is a single file on disk.

1) VACUUM. Reclaim unused space and defragment the database file.

VACUUM;

2) INDEX. Create indexes on columns that are frequently used in WHERE, JOIN, or ORDER BY clauses.

CREATE INDEX idx_last_name ON employees(last_name);

3) Wrap multiple operations in a transaction to improve speed.

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
INSERT INTO employees (name, position, salary) VALUES ('Alice', 'Manager', 75000);
INSERT INTO employees (name, position, salary) VALUES ('Bob', 'Developer', 55000);
UPDATE employees SET salary = 60000 WHERE name = 'Bob';
COMMIT;

4) OFFSET clause is used in conjunction with LIMIT for implementing pagination.

SELECT * FROM employees
LIMIT 10 OFFSET 20;
--Note: The limit and the offset values would be parameterized.

5) Generated Columns: In SQLite, generated columns allow you to automatically compute values based on other columns in the same row, enhancing data integrity and simplifying queries.

CREATE TABLE products (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
    name TEXT,
    price_per_unit REAL,
    quantity_in_stock INTEGER,
    total_value REAL GENERATED ALWAYS AS (price_per_unit * quantity_in_stock) STORED
);
--Note: Do not insert values for the generated column in an insert statement.