SQLite or SharedPreferences for persistent data storage?

Question

For persistent storage of data is there any distinct advantage of using a SQLlite database over SharedPreferences or vice versa? Currently my application data is only a cou

Answer 1

Off the top of my head:

SharedPreferences:

Pro:

• Lightweight
• Quick and easy to use
• Easy to debug
• Config file can be edited by hand if need be

Con:

• Slow when dealing with lots of data
• Not helpful when the data is more than a simple key/value affair
• Entire file needs to be read and parsed to access data
• Takes up more space, each entry has a considerable amount of ASCII data around it, and all the data itself is ASCII too.

SQLite:

Pro:

• Scales nicely
• Changes don't require rewriting the entire data file from scratch
• Powerful queries

Con:

• More code to write
• More heavyweight (code and memory), overkill when dealing with a little bit of data