Inspirations#

Stardust builds on ideas from several systems. It makes different decisions where their goals do not match this project.

Datomic established the value of immutable facts and time as part of the data model. That history model remains central to Stardust. The current design does not carry over Datomic's storage model or its required attribute definitions. New fields and relationships can exist before a complete project model.

Asami provides an open graph that accepts new relationships without a fixed attribute schema. This openness helps knowledge grow with the project.

Clojure demonstrates how code can use the same persistent data structures as ordinary data. The Stardust value model applies that homoiconic principle to JSON-compatible values and immutable facts. System definitions and business knowledge can therefore share one historical model.

Flecs shows how an entity-component-system can combine high performance with first-class entity relationships. Its work beyond flat component storage reinforced Stardust's interest in relational entities and flexible data models. Sander Mertens's entity-component-system article series explains archetype storage, entity identifiers, data-oriented hierarchies, and relationship design.

SQLite proves that an embedded engine can be dependable and portable with little operational work. Its dynamic content also informed Stardust's open value model.

DuckDB provides strong analytical performance in an embedded engine. Teams should not need a large operational system to ask serious questions of their data.

Redis demonstrates the value of clear data primitives and a language-neutral baseline. Shared data concepts can connect systems that use different implementation languages.

MongoDB makes JSON-first documents accessible across languages. The Stardust document layer keeps that accessibility, while relationships, typed values, and history remain below it.

LMDB influenced the fast, ordered, transactional storage foundation. An earlier Stardust prototype ran on LMDB, and the current embedded single-file store follows the bucket design of bbolt. Both reinforced the direct relationship between storage design and hardware performance.

TigerBeetle raises the standard for engineering discipline. TigerStyle treats correctness, performance, and safety as connected properties that require deliberate design.

Stardust does not combine these systems into one product. It selects ideas that support rapid change without information loss. At least a decade of experiments tested those decisions.