Dolt contains no MySQL code
Posted May 15, 2026 19:00 UTC (Fri) by zachmu (guest, #183605)Parent article: Version-controlled databases using Prolly trees
Nice article, but a small correction: Dolt is not a fork of MySQL and contains no MySQL code. It's a completely new implementation from the ground up, both the storage layer and query engine. Similarly, Doltgres is not a fork of Postgres and contains no Postgres code. The query engine for both databases is go-mysql-server, and they both use storage and version control libraries implemented in the Dolt project.
DoltLite is different: it's a fork of SQLite3 with the storage engine ripped out and replaced with a prolly tree implementation.
There's also a fourth variant that's even newer: DumboDB. It implements the dolt version control operations in a Mongo-compatible document database. Like Dolt and Doltgres, it contains no mongo code. It's a new implementation.
Dolt's implementation of prolly trees did indeed originate with Boodman's noms project, but similar concepts in other domains date back to at least 2009 by our research and there are probably even older ones. Like many inventions, prolly trees have a long history with many contributors, and people continue to re-invent the concept independently. See this blog for more background.