What is the first rule of programming? Maybe something like “do not repeat yourself” or “if it works, don’t touch it”? Or, how about “do not write your own database!”… That’s a good one. Databases are a nightmare to write, from Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID) requirements to sharding to fault recovery to administration - everything is hard beyond belief. Fortunately, there are amazing databases out there that have been polished over decades and don’t cost a cent. So why ...