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Flyway vs Slick: What are the differences?

Introduction

Flyway and Slick are both popular frameworks used in the field of database management and migration. While Flyway focuses primarily on database migration, Slick is an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) library that provides a higher-level abstraction over the database.

  1. Database migration vs. ORM: The key difference between Flyway and Slick lies in their core functionalities. Flyway is primarily designed for database migration, providing a seamless workflow for versioning and applying database changes. On the other hand, Slick focuses on ORM, allowing developers to work with databases using programming language constructs rather than direct SQL queries.

  2. Migration-first vs. Code-first: Flyway adopts a migration-first approach, where the database schema evolves incrementally over a series of migration scripts that are executed in order. In contrast, Slick takes a code-first approach, where the database schema is derived from the Scala code itself using case classes and annotations.

  3. SQL-centric vs. Scala-centric: Flyway is SQL-centric, requiring the migration scripts to be written in SQL, making it suitable for developers familiar with SQL syntax. In contrast, Slick is Scala-centric, leveraging the power of the Scala language for database operations, which can be beneficial for Scala developers as it allows for type-safe queries and composition.

  4. Lightweight vs. Feature-rich: Flyway is a lightweight migration tool that focuses solely on the core migration functionality. It provides a simple and easy-to-use approach for managing database changes. On the other hand, Slick is more feature-rich, offering advanced ORM capabilities such as query optimization, caching, and lazy loading, making it suitable for complex database operations.

  5. Database agnostic vs. Relational database emphasis: Flyway is database agnostic, supporting a wide range of relational databases. It provides a uniform interface for managing database migrations across different platforms. In contrast, Slick is more closely tied to relational databases and focuses on providing a seamless integration with popular databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.

  6. Developer tool vs. Full-stack framework: Flyway is primarily a developer tool that can be integrated into existing project workflows. It is flexible and can be used with any application stack or framework. Slick, on the other hand, is a full-stack framework that provides a comprehensive set of tools and libraries for database operations and mappings, making it more suitable for building end-to-end applications.

In summary, Flyway is a lightweight, SQL-centric database migration tool that focuses on versioning and applying database changes, while Slick is a feature-rich, Scala-centric ORM library that provides an abstraction layer over the database for developers working with Scala.

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Pros of Flyway
Pros of Slick
  • 13
    Superb tool, easy to configure and use
  • 9
    Very easy to config, great support on plain sql scripts
  • 6
    Is fantastic and easy to install even with complex DB
  • 4
    Simple and intuitive
  • 1
    Easy tool to implement incremental migration
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    Cons of Flyway
    Cons of Slick
    • 3
      "Undo Migrations" requires pro version, very expensive
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      What is Flyway?

      It lets you regain control of your database migrations with pleasure and plain sql. Solves only one problem and solves it well. It migrates your database, so you don't have to worry about it anymore.

      What is Slick?

      It is a modern database query and access library for Scala. It allows you to work with stored data almost as if you were using Scala collections while at the same time giving you full control over when a database access happens and which data is transferred.

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      What companies use Flyway?
      What companies use Slick?
      See which teams inside your own company are using Flyway or Slick.
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      What tools integrate with Flyway?
      What tools integrate with Slick?

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      What are some alternatives to Flyway and Slick?
      Liquibase
      Liquibase is th leading open-source tool for database schema change management. Liquibase helps teams track, version, and deploy database schema and logic changes so they can automate their database code process with their app code process.
      Hibernate
      Hibernate is a suite of open source projects around domain models. The flagship project is Hibernate ORM, the Object Relational Mapper.
      Switch
      Ring your mobile phone, computer, and desk phone at the same time. Answer calls and switch seamlessly between devices. Use your personal device with a business phone number so you're always reachable.
      Spring Data
      It makes it easy to use data access technologies, relational and non-relational databases, map-reduce frameworks, and cloud-based data services. This is an umbrella project which contains many subprojects that are specific to a given database.
      DataGrip
      A cross-platform IDE that is aimed at DBAs and developers working with SQL databases.
      See all alternatives