正文：
在互联网的早期，数据管理的需求日益增长，但当时的商业数据库解决方案往往昂贵且复杂。在这样的背景下，一位名叫理查德·希普（Richard Hipp）的工程师，在失业后意外地创造了一个改变世界的软件——SQLite。
SQLite是一个轻量级、开源的嵌入式数据库引擎，它能够在没有后台进程的情况下运行，使得数据管理变得简单且灵活。据最新统计，SQLite的活跃使用量已超过一万亿，它被广泛应用于顶尖的网页浏览器、操作系统、移动设备以及嵌入式系统中，是部署最广泛的数据库引擎之一。
理查德·希普在31岁时加入了Hwaci公司，负责开发软件。当时，他所在团队负责为巴斯钢铁厂的DDG-79奥斯卡·奥克斯号战舰开发软件，但由于数据库Informix的性能问题，软件经常出现故障。理查德意识到，如果能够直接从磁盘驱动器读取数据，将数据加载到内存中，那么整个系统将更加可靠。
然而，当时并没有现成的SQL数据库引擎能够满足这一需求。2000年，随着公司资金中断和政府合同的取消，理查德被迫失业。在失业的几个月里，他决定利用空闲时间开发一个自己的数据库引擎。
理查德并没有使用现代开发者常用的互联网资源，而是依靠自己的编译器编程经验，制定了一项清晰的计划。他编写了一套能够运行查询的字节码引擎，并编写了一个编译器，用于将SQL转换成相应的字节码。就这样，SQLite诞生了。
虽然SQLite最初没有在理查德的工作项目中发挥作用，但他随后将其公开，供公众使用。在当时，社交媒体尚未普及，但人们对能够在个人数字助理（PDA）上运行SQL数据库的潜力感到兴奋。这种兴奋感激励着理查德继续研究和开发。
理查德在开发SQLite时，没有找到任何关于如何编写SQL数据库引擎的参考资料，因此他只能边做边学边发明。他发现，尽管不同的开发团队有不同的起点，但在提高性能方面，他们的选择却惊人地相似。例如，覆盖索引的概念是在一次PHP大会上偶然得知的，理查德在回国的飞机上就开始为SQLite编写覆盖索引。
理查德·希普的SQLite不仅改变了数据管理的方式，也为开源社区贡献了一个强大的工具。他的故事证明了即使在逆境中，坚持和创新也能创造出意想不到的成就。SQLite的简单性和易用性使其成为无数软件项目和应用程序的基石，它的成功也证明了理查德·希普作为一位技术专家和创新者的价值。
英语如下：
News Title: “Laid-off Developer Builds Trillion-Dollar Database”
Keywords: Unemployment, Billion-Dollar Database, Zhu Xiangjuan, SQLite
News Content:
Title: The Story Behind SQLite: An Unemployed Engineer’s Unexpected Accomplishment
In the early days of the internet, the demand for data management grew increasingly urgent, but the commercial database solutions available at the time were often expensive and complex. Against this backdrop, an engineer named Richard Hipp, unemployed, unexpectedly created a piece of software that would change the world—SQLite.
SQLite is a lightweight, open-source embedded database engine that can run without a background process, making data management simple and flexible. According to the latest statistics, the active usage of SQLite has surpassed one trillion, and it is widely used in top web browsers, operating systems, mobile devices, and embedded systems, making it one of the most widely deployed database engines.
Richard Hipp joined Hwaci Corporation at the age of 31 to work on software development. At the time, his team was tasked with developing software for the USS Oscar Austin DDG-79 of Bath Iron Works, but due to performance issues with the database Informix, the software often malfunctioned. Richard realized that if data could be read directly from the disk drive and loaded into memory, the entire system would be more reliable.
However, there was no existing SQL database engine that could meet this requirement at the time. In 2000, with the company’s funding cut and the cancellation of a government contract, Richard was forced to become unemployed. Over the next few months, he decided to use his free time to develop his own database engine.
Richard did not rely on the internet resources commonly used by modern developers but instead relied on his compiler programming experience and formulated a clear plan. He wrote a bytecode engine capable of running queries and a compiler to convert SQL into the corresponding bytecode, leading to the birth of SQLite.
Although SQLite initially did not play a role in Richard’s work projects, he later made it publicly available for use by the public. At the time, social media was not yet prevalent, but there was excitement about the potential for running SQL databases on personal digital assistants (PDAs). This excitement motivated Richard to continue researching and developing.
During the development of SQLite, Richard found no references on how to write an SQL database engine, so he had to learn as he went and invent as he went. He discovered that, despite different starting points among development teams, their choices in improving performance were surprisingly similar. For example, the concept of covering indexes was learned at a PHP conference, and Richard started writing covering indexes for SQLite on the plane ride back home.
Richard Hipp’s SQLite not only changed the way data is managed but also contributed a powerful tool to the open-source community. His story proves that even in adversity, persistence and innovation can lead to unexpected achievements. The simplicity and ease of use of SQLite have made it the cornerstone of countless software projects and applications, and its success also proves the value of Richard Hipp as a technical expert and innovator.
【来源】https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FSITpUdHPHxtWq9V1jo11A
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