There are basically three reasons to use a database, rather than a text file, to store data. The first reason is speed. Accessing data stored in a database is much faster than accessing data stored in a text file. A database is designed for rapid location of information. A text file, you have to read through each record until you find what you are looking for.. . .
There are basically three reasons to use a database, rather than a text file, to store data. The first reason is speed. Accessing data stored in a database is much faster than accessing data stored in a text file. A database is designed for rapid location of information. A text file, you have to read through each record until you find what you are looking for.

The second reason is ease of data retrieval. A database--at least, a decent database--provides you with a language (usually SQL) for querying the database for specific information.

The third reason is data integrity. Since a database handles a lot of things for you, which you would have to handle for yourself when using a text file, you are less likely to screw up your data, and lose information, when using a real database.

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