Intro

The sometimes not clear nature of the blockchain technologies leaves us with small but persistent questions that, in my opinion, are very important to be solved in an attempt to strive for both individual and optimal assessment-decision-making in the crypto-world.

Uncertainty is unfortunately often not a choice, however, we should not let small technical questions undermine our trust or passion for a project.

Therefore, I would gladly expand a bit on the topic regarding what SteemData is and why it is so important to be supported by the whole community.

So well, WTF is SteemData?

SteemData is a database created and maintained by the witness and developer @furion. To be precise, a No-SQL Database (aka non-relational database).

SteemData is just about making Steem-related information available outside of the blockchain. By providing in an accesible manner this information to the outside, we can help Steem grow by letting other communities or services work with us.

Why No-SQL?

The nature of the blockchain data is unstructured and needless to say, huge.

Nowadays, the benefits of NoSQL databases are no secret, especially when cloud computing has gained wide adoption.

NoSQL databases were created in response to the limitations of traditional relational database technology. In comparison against relational databases, NoSQL databases are more scalable and provide superior performance, and their data model addresses several shortcomings of the the relational model.

The advantages of NoSQL include being able to handle:

Large volumes of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data
Agile sprints, quick iteration, and frequent code pushes
Object-oriented programming that is easy to use and flexible
Efficient, scale-out architecture instead of expensive, monolithic architecture

oh cool, why do we even need it?

You can think of the blockchain as a closed blackbox where multiple transactions , queries, post and comments are taking place. Yes, the blockchain DOES regulate itself and store data by itself, however, it is not efficient at gathering historical data.

Anyways, the blockchain, from a global internet point of view, it is like a closed black box remember? It is not accesible from the outside unless you setup a Node server (which demands a considerable investment). There is no way you can access the blockchain data without a node unless there is a public database such as SteemData.

It would be stupid to assume anyone interested in accessing steem blockchain could just install and setup a node server. It is neither realistic nor practical.

If you want an external Service to work with Steem you first need to provide a gateway to the blockchain.

Feeding the indie dev ecosystem

Crypto projects and Dev community are like an animal symbiosis. Both need each other.

As Steem grows and becomes more public it is to be expected a bigger developer comunity. Dev community is a very necesary and healthy part of the population you want to take care of. Steem as a project altogether, needs to provide to its developers the required tools and assets in order to let them improve the platform.

A proper database is basic

What else more important than a proper database? Think about it.

Only withnesses members could in theory easily work on Apps or Services related with Steem without the need of any database. Why? because they do all have direct node connection with the blockchain.

But, like said before, you cannot expect from the witnesses to do all the development work!