When Laravel 11 made SQLite the default database for new applications, it sparked a massive debate across the ecosystem. For years, standard engineering practice dictated using SQLite solely for local testing and spinning up MySQL or PostgreSQL for staging and production. By mid-2026, the developer landscape has shifted. Fueled by the raw performance of modern NVMe SSDs, Write-Ahead Logging (WAL), and real-time streaming replication tools, SQLite is now a viable, low-maintenance production ch...