Noob: database selection question

I am reading through "Agile Web Development with Rails" 3rd edition. My question is this;

The book seems to suggest that development should be done using sqlite3 and that the testing and/or production can be switched to some other database. Now it does not say you have to do it this way and even gives instructions to setup your initial development using MySql.

My question is - is this how most people/organizations do it or do they just use the same database from development through production.

What are the pro's and con's.

I would think using different databases could lead to errors due to database quarks in the your coded application.

The book seems to suggest that development should be done using sqlite3 and that the testing and/or production can be switched to some other database. Now it does not say you have to do it this way and even gives instructions to setup your initial development using MySql.

My question is - is this how most people/organizations do it or do they just use the same database from development through production.

I don't know about "most" but my preference is to use the same DB all the way through. Sometime's it not practical, so...

I would think using different databases could lead to errors due to database quarks in the your coded application.

Yep, it happens. At the least you should have a staging server with an environment identical to production for your final testing.

FWIW,