Long Term Support

At this writing, 2050 is still 25 years in the future. Nobody knows what will happen in that time, and we cannot absolutely promise that SQLite will be viable or useful that far out. But we can promise this: we plan as if we will be supporting SQLite until 2050. That long-term outlook affects our decisions in important ways.

在写下这些话的时候，2050 年还在 25 年之后。没有人知道这段时间里会发生什么，我们也不能绝对保证 SQLite 到那么远的将来仍然可行、仍然有用。但我们可以保证这一点：我们按照将一直支持 SQLite 到 2050 年来做计划。这种长远的眼光，在一些重要的方面影响着我们的决定。

Cross-platform Code → SQLite runs on any platform with an 8-bit byte, two's complement 32-bit and 64-bit integers, and a C compiler. It is actively tested on all currently popular CPUs and operating systems. The extreme portability of the SQLite code and file format will help it remain viable on future platforms.

跨平台的代码 → SQLite 可以在任何具备 8 位字节、二进制补码 32 位和 64 位整数以及一个 C 编译器的平台上运行。它在当今所有流行的 CPU 和操作系统上都经过积极的测试。SQLite 代码和文件格式极高的可移植性，将帮助它在未来的平台上继续可用。

Stable, Cross-platform Database Files → SQLite database files are bit-for-bit identical on 32-bit, 64-bit, big-endian, and little-endian platforms. You can copy an SQLite database file from one system to another without having to translate or convert the database. Furthermore, the file format is well documented and stable. Database files created today will be readable and writable by future versions of SQLite decades in the future.

稳定的、跨平台的数据库文件 → SQLite 数据库文件在 32 位、64 位、大端和小端平台上逐位相同。你可以把一个 SQLite 数据库文件从一个系统复制到另一个系统，而不必对数据库做任何转换。此外，文件格式有详尽的文档，而且是稳定的。今天创建的数据库文件，几十年后的 SQLite 版本仍然能够读写。

Disaster planning → Every byte of source-code history for SQLite is cryptographically protected and is automatically replicated to multiple geographically separated servers, in datacenters owned by different companies. Thousands of additional clones exist on private servers around the world. The primary developers of SQLite live in different regions of the world. SQLite can survive a continental catastrophe.

灾难预案 → SQLite 源代码历史的每一个字节都受到密码学保护，并自动复制到多台地理上相互分隔的服务器上，这些服务器位于不同公司所有的数据中心里。世界各地的私人服务器上还有成千上万份额外的克隆。SQLite 的主要开发者住在世界的不同地区。SQLite 能够在一场大陆级的灾难中幸存下来。

Old school → Nobody is completely immune to trends and fads, but the SQLite developers work hard to avoid being sucked into the latest programming fashion. Our aim is to produce timeless code that will be readable, understandable, and maintainable by programmers who have not yet been born.

老派 → 没有人能完全不受潮流和时尚的影响，但 SQLite 的开发者们努力避免被卷进最新的编程风尚。我们的目标是写出不会过时的代码，让还没有出生的程序员也能阅读、理解和维护。

Update on 2018-05-31: Our goal of supporting SQLite long-term have apparently come to the notice of the preservationist at the US Library Of Congress who have identified SQLite as a recommended storage format for the preservation of digital content.

2018-05-31 更新：我们长期支持 SQLite 的目标，显然引起了美国国会图书馆保存专家的注意，他们已把 SQLite 列为保存数字内容的推荐存储格式。