Reliability Lessons From SQLite - Richard Hipp SSW 2026

Richard Hipp · SSW 2026 · 2026 · Software Should Work

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What it does with SQLancer

SQLite's creator on twenty-six years of testing it, crediting Rigger with the idea of fuzzing for inconsistencies in SQL rather than for crashes, explaining the sub-query equivalence that finds them, and saying SQLite's own fuzzer had to be extended to do the same.

recognitionexplains technique

Where SQLancer comes up (2)

• 47:16
  And then a few years later, um, Manual Rigger came up with this idea of we, you know, the the original fuzzers were just looking for memory errors or searching faults or something like that. He came up with the idea we can we can do fuzzing ideas to test for inconsistencies in SQL.
  From the talk's automatic captions — a machine transcription of speech, not the speaker's words as written. Follow the link to hear what was said.
• 47:16

  

  The talk at 47:16. The slide behind him is SQLite's project timeline: query fuzzing arrives around 2020, after 3.0.0, 100% MC/DC coverage and profile-guided fuzzing.

  A frame from the recording. Nothing is transcribed from it: what the slide says is shown, not quoted.

What was read

• captions — extracted, 515 caption segments
  Windows around the moments SQLancer is mentioned, cut from a transcript supplied by hand. Not the whole talk.
• frame — extracted
  Captured at 47:16.

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