Indexed Database API


The Indexed Database API is a JavaScript application programming interface provided by web browsers for managing a NoSQL database of JSON objects. It is a standard maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium.
As an alternative to the Web storage standard, IndexedDB can provide more storage capacity. Web storage has fixed limits per website, but IndexedDB limits are "usually quite large, if they exist at all".
Use cases for IndexedDB include caching web application data for offline availability. Some browser modules, such as devtools or extensions, may also use it for storage.

History

Support for IndexedDB was added to Firefox version 4, Google Chrome version 11, and Internet Explorer version 10. Safari added support in version 8.
Web SQL Database was a prior API developed by Apple. But Firefox refused to add support for it and argued against it becoming a standard because it would codify the quirks of SQLite. It was thus deprecated in favor of IndexedDB.