MySQL’s popularity is due to a particular combination of unique features: speed, reliability, extensibility, and open-source code. The following sections discuss these features in greater detail.
Speed
In an RDBMS, speed—the time it takes to execute a query and return the results to the caller—is everything. By any standards, MySQL is fast, often orders of magnitude faster than its competition. Benchmarks available on the MySQL website show that MySQL outperforms almost every other database currently available, including commercial counterparts like Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and IBM DB2. For example, an eWeek study in February 2002 that compared IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle9i, and Sybase concluded that “MySQL has the best overall performance and that MySQL scalability matches Oracle … MySQL had the highest throughput, even exceeding the numbers generated by Oracle.”1
Reliability
Most of the time, high database performance comes at a price: low reliability. MySQL is, however, designed to offer maximum reliability and uptime, and it has been tested and certified for use in high-volume, mission-critical applications. MySQL supports transactions, which ensure data consistency and reduce the risk of data loss, and replication and clustering, two techniques that significantly reduce downtime in the event of a server failure. Finally, MySQL’s large user base assists in rapidly locating and resolving bugs and in testing the software in a variety of environments; this proactive approach has resulted in software that is virtually bug-free.
Scalability
MySQL can handle extremely large and complex databases without too much of a performance drop. Tables of several gigabytes containing hundreds of thousands of records are not uncommon, and the MySQL website itself claims to use databases containing 50 million records. A 2005 test by MySQL Test Labs demonstrated that “MySQL shows near-linear scalability in a multi-CPU environment,”3 with performance increasing in proportion to the number of CPUs added to the system. This ability to scale with demand has made MySQL popular with businesses like Eli Lilly, Alstom, Dun & Bradstreet, Epson, and the New York Times; high-volume websites such as Google, Facebook, and Slashdot; and government organizations such as NASA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Swedish National Police.
Ease of Use
MySQL is so easy to use that even a novice can pick up the basics in a few hours, and the software is well supported by a detailed manual, a large number of free online tutorials, a knowledgeable developer community, and a fair number of books. While most interaction with MySQL takes place through a command-line interface, a number of graphical tools, both browser-based and otherwise, are also available to simplify the task of managing and administering the MySQL database server. Finally, unlike its proprietary counterparts, which have literally hundreds of adjustable parameters, MySQL is fairly easy to tune and optimize for even the most demanding applications. For commercial environments, MySQL is fully supported in terms of professional MySQL training, consultancy, and technical support.
Portability and Standards Compliance
MySQL supports most of the important features of the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) SQL standard, and often extends the ANSI standard with custom extensions, functions, and data types designed to improve portability and provide users with enhanced functionality. MySQL is also available for both UNIX and non-UNIX operating systems, including Linux; Solaris; FreeBSD; OS/2; MacOS; and Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, NT, and Vista; and it runs on a range of architectures, including Intel x86, Alpha, SPARC, PowerPC, and IA64.
Multiuser Support
MySQL is a full multiuser system, which means that multiple clients can access and use one (or more) MySQL database(s) simultaneously; this is of particular significance during development of web-based applications, which are required to support simultaneous connections by multiple remote clients. MySQL also includes a powerful and flexible privilege system that allows administrators to protect access to sensitive data using a combination of user- and host-based authentication schemes.
Internationalization
As a program that is used by millions of users in countries across the globe, it would be unusual indeed if MySQL did not include support for various languages and character sets. MySQL offers full Unicode support, as well as full support for most important character sets (including Latin, Chinese, and European character sets). Character sets are taken into account when sorting, comparing, and saving data.
Wide Application Support
MySQL exposes application programming interfaces (APIs) to many programming languages, thereby making it possible to write database-driven applications in the language of your choice. Currently, MySQL provides hooks to C, C++, Eiffel, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, and Tcl, and connectors are available for JDBC, ODBC, and .NET applications.
Open-Source Code
The MySQL source code is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public License—a key benefit, since it allows users to download and modify the application to meet their specific needs. This unique licensing policy has fuelled MySQL’s popularity, creating an active and enthusiastic global community of MySQL developers and users. This community plays an active role in keeping MySQL ahead of its competition, both by crash-testing the software for reliability on millions of installations worldwide and extending the engine to stay abreast of the latest technologies. High-volume, well informed mailing lists and user groups assist in the rapid resolution of questions and problems, and a global network of committed MySQL users and developers provides knowledgeable advice, bug fixes, and third-party utilities. All of this has paid off: A code inspection study by Reasoning, Inc. concluded that the code quality of MySQL was six times better than that of comparable proprietary code.
It is worth noting that if your MySQL-powered application is not licensed under the GPL or other MySQL-approved open-source license and you intend to redistribute it (whether internally or externally), you are required to purchase a commercial license for this use. Oracle earns revenue both from the sale of these licenses and by providing support, training, and consultation services for the MySQL database server.
Source of Information : MCGraw Hill - SQL the Complete Reference 3rd Edition
Speed
In an RDBMS, speed—the time it takes to execute a query and return the results to the caller—is everything. By any standards, MySQL is fast, often orders of magnitude faster than its competition. Benchmarks available on the MySQL website show that MySQL outperforms almost every other database currently available, including commercial counterparts like Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and IBM DB2. For example, an eWeek study in February 2002 that compared IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle9i, and Sybase concluded that “MySQL has the best overall performance and that MySQL scalability matches Oracle … MySQL had the highest throughput, even exceeding the numbers generated by Oracle.”1
Reliability
Most of the time, high database performance comes at a price: low reliability. MySQL is, however, designed to offer maximum reliability and uptime, and it has been tested and certified for use in high-volume, mission-critical applications. MySQL supports transactions, which ensure data consistency and reduce the risk of data loss, and replication and clustering, two techniques that significantly reduce downtime in the event of a server failure. Finally, MySQL’s large user base assists in rapidly locating and resolving bugs and in testing the software in a variety of environments; this proactive approach has resulted in software that is virtually bug-free.
Scalability
MySQL can handle extremely large and complex databases without too much of a performance drop. Tables of several gigabytes containing hundreds of thousands of records are not uncommon, and the MySQL website itself claims to use databases containing 50 million records. A 2005 test by MySQL Test Labs demonstrated that “MySQL shows near-linear scalability in a multi-CPU environment,”3 with performance increasing in proportion to the number of CPUs added to the system. This ability to scale with demand has made MySQL popular with businesses like Eli Lilly, Alstom, Dun & Bradstreet, Epson, and the New York Times; high-volume websites such as Google, Facebook, and Slashdot; and government organizations such as NASA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Swedish National Police.
Ease of Use
MySQL is so easy to use that even a novice can pick up the basics in a few hours, and the software is well supported by a detailed manual, a large number of free online tutorials, a knowledgeable developer community, and a fair number of books. While most interaction with MySQL takes place through a command-line interface, a number of graphical tools, both browser-based and otherwise, are also available to simplify the task of managing and administering the MySQL database server. Finally, unlike its proprietary counterparts, which have literally hundreds of adjustable parameters, MySQL is fairly easy to tune and optimize for even the most demanding applications. For commercial environments, MySQL is fully supported in terms of professional MySQL training, consultancy, and technical support.
Portability and Standards Compliance
MySQL supports most of the important features of the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) SQL standard, and often extends the ANSI standard with custom extensions, functions, and data types designed to improve portability and provide users with enhanced functionality. MySQL is also available for both UNIX and non-UNIX operating systems, including Linux; Solaris; FreeBSD; OS/2; MacOS; and Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, NT, and Vista; and it runs on a range of architectures, including Intel x86, Alpha, SPARC, PowerPC, and IA64.
Multiuser Support
MySQL is a full multiuser system, which means that multiple clients can access and use one (or more) MySQL database(s) simultaneously; this is of particular significance during development of web-based applications, which are required to support simultaneous connections by multiple remote clients. MySQL also includes a powerful and flexible privilege system that allows administrators to protect access to sensitive data using a combination of user- and host-based authentication schemes.
Internationalization
As a program that is used by millions of users in countries across the globe, it would be unusual indeed if MySQL did not include support for various languages and character sets. MySQL offers full Unicode support, as well as full support for most important character sets (including Latin, Chinese, and European character sets). Character sets are taken into account when sorting, comparing, and saving data.
Wide Application Support
MySQL exposes application programming interfaces (APIs) to many programming languages, thereby making it possible to write database-driven applications in the language of your choice. Currently, MySQL provides hooks to C, C++, Eiffel, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, and Tcl, and connectors are available for JDBC, ODBC, and .NET applications.
Open-Source Code
The MySQL source code is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public License—a key benefit, since it allows users to download and modify the application to meet their specific needs. This unique licensing policy has fuelled MySQL’s popularity, creating an active and enthusiastic global community of MySQL developers and users. This community plays an active role in keeping MySQL ahead of its competition, both by crash-testing the software for reliability on millions of installations worldwide and extending the engine to stay abreast of the latest technologies. High-volume, well informed mailing lists and user groups assist in the rapid resolution of questions and problems, and a global network of committed MySQL users and developers provides knowledgeable advice, bug fixes, and third-party utilities. All of this has paid off: A code inspection study by Reasoning, Inc. concluded that the code quality of MySQL was six times better than that of comparable proprietary code.
It is worth noting that if your MySQL-powered application is not licensed under the GPL or other MySQL-approved open-source license and you intend to redistribute it (whether internally or externally), you are required to purchase a commercial license for this use. Oracle earns revenue both from the sale of these licenses and by providing support, training, and consultation services for the MySQL database server.
Source of Information : MCGraw Hill - SQL the Complete Reference 3rd Edition
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