SQLite accepts both of the above. But, in an effort to be compatible with MySQL 3.x (which was one of the most widely used RDBMSes when SQLite was first being designed) SQLite will also interpret a double-quotes string as string literal if it does not match any valid identifier.

This misfeature means that a misspelled double-quoted identifier will be interpreted as a string literal, rather than generating an error. It also lures developers who are new to the SQL language into the bad habit of using double-quoted string literals when they really need to learn to use the correct single-quoted string literal form.

In hindsight, we should not have tried to make SQLite accept MySQL 3.x syntax, and should have never allowed double-quoted string literals. However, there are countless applications that make use of double-quoted string literals and so we continue to support that capability to avoid breaking legacy.