People often ask me why I decided to build a database.
The answer goes back much further than LioranDB.
It started when I was 12 years old.
When I was around 12, I decided that I wanted to build my own database.
Of course, I had no idea how real databases actually worked.
I built my first "database" using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Socket.IO, and the browser's Local Storage. There was no WAL, no indexing, no storage engine, no recovery, no transactions—just JSON stored in Local Storage. 😄
I proudly named it FODB (Free Online DB).
Looking back today, it makes me laugh.
But that small project started a journey that I'm still on today.
Learning, building, and growing
Over the next few years, I kept learning programming and computer science.
That journey led to several recognitions that motivated me to keep going.
Media Recognition
- Nagpur Post — 23 May 2023 — "Swaraj's High Rise in Computers!"
- Navarashtra (Chandrapur Edition) — 23 May 2023 — "स्वराजची संगणक क्षेत्रात उंच भरारी"
- Tarun Bharat (Purva Vidarbha Edition) — 29 May 2023 — "'स्वराज'ची संगणकात गगनभरारी"
Academic & Technical Achievements
- Crest Cyber Olympiad — Western Region Rank 17
- Cyber Olympiad — State Rank 1
- International Computer Olympiad — State Rank 30
- International Mathematics Olympiad — State Rank 30
- Participant — 30th National Children's Science Congress
- 2nd Rank — School Cyber / Software Olympiad
- Certificate of Excellence — Exam Pe Charcha 2023
These achievements gave me confidence, but they were never the final goal.
I always wanted to build something real.
The question that changed everything
One question kept coming back to me:
"Why doesn't India have its own widely adopted database?"
Almost every modern application depends on infrastructure built outside India.
That made me wonder...
Why can't we build our own?
That question eventually became LioranDB.
The first version
In February 2025, I started building LioranDB.
The first version was written in TypeScript.
I worked on it continuously until March 2026.
That version taught me a huge amount about storage engines, indexing, replication, crashes, performance, and what it really takes to build a database.
More importantly, it wasn't just an experiment.
Around 10 real clients tested the TypeScript version and gave valuable feedback.
Out of those, 4 have already expressed interest in becoming paying customers once the new version is production-ready.
That gave me confidence that this project solves a real problem.
Starting over with Rust
As LioranDB grew, I realized something important.
TypeScript wasn't the right foundation for the database I wanted to build.
To reach the performance, reliability, and scalability I envisioned, I needed a systems programming language.
So I made one of the hardest decisions I've taken as a developer.
I started over.
I learned Rust, studied data structures and storage engine design, planned a completely new architecture, and began building LioranDB v2 from scratch.
It wasn't easy.
But it was the right decision.
2026: Building LioranDB v2
This year is dedicated to launching LioranDB v2.
Every day has been filled with writing code, running benchmarks, fixing bugs, performing crash tests, improving latency, and making the engine more stable.
There's still a lot to do, but every week the database gets closer to production.
This is just the beginning
LioranDB isn't just another side project for me.
It's a long-term mission.
I want to help build more developer infrastructure from India.
I know the road ahead is long, and there is still an enormous amount to learn.
But every database starts with the first line of code.
Mine started with a funny little Local Storage project called FODB.
Today, that childhood curiosity has grown into LioranDB.
And I'm just getting started. 🇮🇳
Top comments (0)