title: Is there a difference between SQL Server Express (2012) and LocalDB?
body: <p>In his excellent and popular <a href="http://erikej.blogspot.com/2011/01/comparison-of-sql-server-compact-4-and.html" rel="noreferrer">comparision chart</a>, ErikEJ draws a distinction between <strong>SQL Server Express 2012</strong>, and <strong>SQL Server 2012 LocalDB</strong>. However, I can't find such a distinction anywhere else in the MSDN documentation ("LocalDB" isn't even mentioned in <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/073566515X" rel="noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the official MS SS12 book</a> or on the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx" rel="noreferrer">MSDN SQL Edition comparison page</a>.) This leads me to suspect that Express and LocalDB aren't really two separate products as ErikEJ suggests, but rather just two different terms for the same thing (which would explain why, on <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh510202.aspx" rel="noreferrer">this MSDN page</a>, it is called "SQL Server 2012 <strong><em>Express LocalDB</em></strong>").</p>
  
  <p>If there really is a difference between the products, can anyone point me to some official documentation comparing them? </p>