SQLite packages the entire database into a single file. That single file contains the database layout as well as the actual data held in all the different tables and indexes. The file format is cross-platform and can be accessed on any machine, regardless of native byte order or word size.

Having the whole database in a single file makes it trivial to create, copy, or back up the on-disk database image. Whole databases can be emailed to colleagues, posted to a web forum, or checked into a revision control system. Entire databases can be moved, modified, and shared with the same ease as a word-processing document or spread-sheet file. There is no chance of a database becoming corrupt or unavailable because one of a dozen files was accidentally moved or renamed.

Perhaps most importantly, computer users have grown to expect that a document, project, or other “unit of application data” is stored as a single file. Having the whole database in a single file allows applications to use database instances as documents, data stores, or preference data, without contradicting customer expectations.