GDBM vs a simple JSON, INI or YAML configuration file

Question

I am studying about file based key-value databases such as GDBM and I can not see any real advantage versus using a configuration file. Both technologies let you store in a file keys and values.

Is it the advantage of GDBM the performance, does GDBM parse the file faster?

Answer 1

gdbm doesn't parse a file, it is permanent storage for key value pairs. The storage on disc can be larger than your memory (although your indices probably will have to fit).

If you start with YAML, JSOON or INI files, you first have to parse that material and it all has to fit in memory.