CouchDB gets comfortable on the iPhone and iPad

The Couchbase developers have shown a developer preview of the CouchDB database which runs on Apple's iOS as found on the iPhone and iPad. Mobile Couchbase, as it is called, is a repackaging of Apache's CouchDB database, which stores, distributes and synchronises JSON formatted data between applications that use its RESTful API, or other instances of CouchDB. It is also capable of acting as a web server and hosting web applications.

Couchbase's J. Chris Anderson explained that the company was able to talk about the iOS version now because the company had an application approved for sale by Apple in the App Store. The approval was sufficient to give the developers confidence that they could take the project public. CouchDB is written in Erlang and there was concern that the code would fall foul of Apple's App Store rules, but this appears not to be an issue. The approved application isn't being released by the developers who say that, "it just warms our heart to know that Apple welcomes our technology into their glossy embrace."

The code for the iOS port is available on github where the developers outline their plans. The major task for developers currently is size optimisation; at present the database adds 15 MB to an application and the target is to get that down to 5 MB in the first pass. They are aiming for a beta release "in a matter of weeks" when more documentation and "perhaps some other goodies" will be available. Couchbase Mobile is licensed under the Apache Licence 2.0.

Couchbase was formed by the merger of CouchOne and Membase. An Android version of CouchDB was launched last August by CouchOne.

(djwm)