I've seen this more and more with software landing pages, they are somehow so deep into developing/marketing that they totally forget to say what the thing actually is or does, that's why you show it to family and friends first to get some fresh eyes before publishing the site.

In a similar vein, lots of software is Mac-only, but omits to say this anywehere. You just get to the downloads page and see that there are only mac packages.

As if nobody ever uses anything else.

Why should they care about non-users. Offering our even mentioning choice only creates uncertainty and confusion in potential customers.

How hard is it to add two sentences that says only macOS is supported now and in the near future? I’d rather do that than annoy future potential customers who might have a Mac or plan to get one at some point

Looks like a Redis clone. The benchmarks compare it to Redis.

Description from GitHub:

> DiceDB is an open-source, fast, reactive, in-memory database optimized for modern hardware. Commonly used as a cache, it offers a familiar interface while enabling real-time data updates through query subscriptions. It delivers higher throughput and lower median latencies, making it ideal for modern workloads.

Not 100% a Redis clone, but the API appears to be very similar to Redis of 10 years ago, with some additions that Redis doesn't have. See the list of commands: https://dicedb.io/get-started/installation/

"clone" was not the right term, maybe Redis-look-alike, or something along those lines, something that can be compared to Redis, at least.

I picked that up purely because of the logo / website palette / name choice combinations. Interestingly, not sure it's a good thing.

Arpit here.

DiceDB is an in-memory database that is also reactive. So, instead of polling the database for changes, the database pushes the resultset if you subscribe to it.

We have a similar set of commands as Redis, but are not Redis-compliant.

Would "key-value" not have a place in the description?

This application may be very capable, but I agree with the person saying that its use-case isn't clear on the home page, you have to go deeper into the docs. "Smarter than a database" also seems kind of debatable.

This is a lot clearer than any information I found anywhere else. There wasn't any room on your website, README, or docs for this summary?

It is right there on the landing page. But, let me highlight it a bit.

When I ctrl+F the landing page for key and value, I find nothing. Reading it in full, I also come up empty handed. Which part of the landing page implies it's a key value store?

They did not say anything about key/value in their message.

You are absolutely right, my bad.

IMO, replace "More than a Cache. Smarter than a Database." with an actual description.

The saying is cute but does not really convey information the reader is after. And that spot is where you want people to immediately understand what it is.

I changed that :) now the value proposition is right at the top.

Still not clear to me what it is. Only the features it has, without knowing what it is.

Like, imagine a page that only said "SuperTransport -- 0 to 100 in 5 seconds", but it is not clear for the reader if it is a car or a horse or a plane or a parcel service...

... and the reader has to go and guess "hmm, guess due to the acceleration it is probably a car or a motorbike -- wonder of it is for sale or for rent?".

Just put "fast on premise key/value database" in the big font that was there -- if that is what it is. That is purely a guess from me, no idea if that is what it is.

This is a common enough pattern that it should have a name, where the submitted link isn't clear, but a single comment on HN is.

The Cravens Conjecture

So like RethinkDB? https://rethinkdb.com/

Not a month goes by where I don’t remember it at least once and realize that I still miss it.

This seems more like Redis though

Why don't you run the open source version?

I did for about a year and the issue is that ORMs have issues and maintainers don't feel the need to make changes.

It kinda surprising it was never really continued, but performance was just too bad even if the interface was fantastic.

In the list of things that DiceDB is at the top, you should add "an in-memory database". Pretty critical thing to leave out right at the top.

in-memory key-value store seems much more accurate

Question, how does DiceDB differ from Redis pub/sub? https://redis.io/docs/latest/develop/interact/pubsub/

A Redis-inspired server in Go

Can't wait to feel the impact of garbage collection in my fast cache!

We had a similar thought, but it is not as bad as we think.

We have the benchmarks, and we will be sharing the numbers in subsequent releases.

But, there is still a chance that I may come to bite us and limit us to a smaller scale, and we are ready for it.

Vertical scaling this language also gets into painful territory quite often, I’ve had to workaround this problem before but never with a thing that felt like this: https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale/blob/main/syncs/shard...

it might help to add 99th percentile numbers to the landing page; would do a better job of showing GC impact.

Why are you guys building Yet Another DB ? Not trying to dissuade you, but what are you trying to solve that the plethora of DB's currently in market in the same space have not solved ? This should be highlighted in your landing page and since your primary audience is other dev's ( tough-est crowd to sell ), be very specific on what value your product brings over the other choices.

Nope. it started as Redis clone. We are on a different trajectory now. Chasing different goals.

> Chasing different goals.

What are those goals? I was struggling to interpret a meaningful roadmap from the issue & commit history.

Secret goals are no selling point.

The docs do, the site is useless.

> DiceDB is an open-source, fast, reactive, in-memory database optimized for modern hardware.

A Redis-like database with a Redis-like interface. No info about drop-in compatibility, I assume no.

No. I had the exact same problem.

Feels arrogant. "Of course you already know what this is, how could you not?"

The video is also advertisement rather than a real thing.

Even clicking through to the Github, after reading the "What is DiceDB?", I'm still not very clear. It feels more like marketing than information.

"What is DiceDB? DiceDB is an open-source, fast, reactive, in-memory database optimized for modern hardware. Commonly used as a cache, it offers a familiar interface while enabling real-time data updates through query subscriptions. It delivers higher throughput and lower median latencies, making it ideal for modern workloads."

Drop in replacement of Redis.

Nope. We are not redis compliant.

seems like a key store, with an ability to watch/subscribe to monitor for the change of values in real time

Yes. With DiceDB clients can "WATCH" the output of the commands and upon the change in data, the resultset are streamed to the subscribers.

"A key store, with an ability to watch/subscribe to monitor for the change of values in real time."

Should be the first sentence on their website and repo.