Hi all,

i am writing an application where i need persistence, i.e. saving and
loading of some data. One option is to define my own flat file format
and save to a file.

What i am considering, is to save to a database like MySQL, for two
reasons:
- i don't need to worry about the file format, and parsing/serializing
my data from a flat file.
- random-access is faster.

However, MySQL doesn't really fit my needs for two reasons:
- i may pass my application to friends, and i do not want to have to
bundle MySQL with it, and require them to run it in the background just
to use the application.
- MySQL is started and stopped as a service, whereas i really only need
it running when my application is running. (Of course, if i am the user
i can start and stop the service, but if i pass my application around,
i will then have to provide instructions to start the database service
before running the application, and to stop it after exiting, etc.)

Hence, what i am looking for is something that has the interface of an
SQL database, but which is relatively lighter (in terms of CPU, memory
and HDD space required), and which also can be started and stopped from
within my application.

Any suggestions? Or am i just being ridiculous and should just stick to
a flat-file?

TIA and Regards,
Edwin