[Firebase founder] This new database has been in the works for 2.5 years, since shortly after we joined Google. It was developed in close collaboration with the Cloud Datastore[1] team, and uses Google’s core database infrastructure.
We built it because we know it can be challenging to build complex apps with our original database -- Firebase Realtime Database -- where we optimized for ease-of-use & real-time sync over querying functionality. For more info, see this comparison between the two[2].
This is a open beta launch, so the product has limitations[3] you should be aware of. We’ll be working to remove/raise these before General Availability.
A note on naming: Firebase launched in 2012[4] with a single product, the original database. As we added products (Firebase Auth / Firebase Hosting / etc), we began calling the original product ‘Firebase Realtime Database’, or RTDB for short. If you haven’t followed us lately, we’ve grown to become Google’s app platform, and now have 16 products to help you build/grow apps.
We’re grateful for the support HN has given us over the years and we hope you enjoy Cloud Firestore!
[1] https://cloud.google.com/datastore/
[2] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/rtdb-vs-firestore
[3] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/quotas
[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3832877
We built it because we know it can be challenging to build complex apps with our original database -- Firebase Realtime Database -- where we optimized for ease-of-use & real-time sync over querying functionality. For more info, see this comparison between the two[2].
This is a open beta launch, so the product has limitations[3] you should be aware of. We’ll be working to remove/raise these before General Availability.
A note on naming: Firebase launched in 2012[4] with a single product, the original database. As we added products (Firebase Auth / Firebase Hosting / etc), we began calling the original product ‘Firebase Realtime Database’, or RTDB for short. If you haven’t followed us lately, we’ve grown to become Google’s app platform, and now have 16 products to help you build/grow apps.
We’re grateful for the support HN has given us over the years and we hope you enjoy Cloud Firestore!
[1] https://cloud.google.com/datastore/ [2] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/rtdb-vs-firestore [3] https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/quotas [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3832877