Over the last several months, we’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to interview a number of CouchDB Developers. A primary question pertained to the top benefits of using CouchDB as a database solution.

The number one slot for the top benefits to using CouchDB as a database solution went to sync. 

PouchDB developer, Nolan Lawson referred to sync as CouchDB’s superpower, going on to state that, “CouchDB isn’t a database; it’s a sync engine.” Developer Joan Touzet calls sync the “killer feature” of CouchDB, sharing that whether you’re doing offline-first client development, running a clustered database or distributing data between various server installations, CouchDB’s master-master replication is better than anything she’s ever used.

Speaking of replication, it didn’t take long to figure out that replication had secured second place in our top benefits list.

Garren Smith mentioned that CouchDB was not just a database you can trust but that CouchDB’s replication, combined with PouchDB, allows developers to build interesting applications that work even when the user is offline. Nick Vatamaniuc mentioned that few databases support the feature of master-to-master replication. He likes that it allows creating custom clustering topologies with various availability and scalability trade-offs.

As for third place? Well, that’s anyone’s guess.

The versatility of the responses speak loud and clear to the gamut of lovable CouchDB features. These include CouchDB’s built-in web interface, its powerful and versatile secondary indexing capabilities, its application data model consistency, support for clustering, schema flexibility and much, much more. Stay tuned to hear more developer details on the benefits of using CouchDB as a database solution.

We look forward to digging a bit deeper on some of the benefits mentioned here. If you’d like to add a benefit to our list or there’s something particular you’d like to see covered on the CouchDB blog, we would love to accommodate. Email us!

For more about CouchDB visit couchdb.apache.org or follow us on Twitter at @couchdb.