> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://rc.sunbird.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://rc.sunbird.org/help/comprehensive-overview-electronic-registries-and-verifiable-credentials/electronic-registries/registry-vs-database.md).

# Registry vs Database

| Registry                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | Database                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| An electronic registry is a structured & live identification system that gathers, saves, and maintains uniformed updated data or information on an entity, such as a patient, person, employee, student, or facility.                                                                                                                 | Database provides a way to simply store and manage the data.                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Electronic registries have standards/schema-compliant, structured data records with unique IDs, which are accessible via API. The unique ID is present for the record itself and for each element of the entities referenced in the record. Electronic registries provide APIs, that third-party services can use to access the data. | In contrast, databases may have structured data records but may not necessarily be compliant with any standard/schema and may not have unique IDs for each element                                                                                      |
| Electronic registries are constantly updated to serve as the entity's "Single Source of Truth'' which is also verifiable. The data is updated as soon as any change occurs, and the changes are immediately reflected in the registry.                                                                                                | Unlike electronic registries, databases do not always maintain a single source of truth for an entity. Instead, multiple applications and users may have their own copies of the data, which can lead to inconsistencies or discrepancies between them. |


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