04 MySQL RDBMS Home

04 MySQL RDBMS Home

MySQL Documentation

MySQL is a relational database management system, which means it stores and manages data in separate tables. For example, a database through MySQL could contain 3 tables: one for user info, one for product info, and another for seller info. MySQL is also open source, meaning the source code for the software is fully available for use and modification for more personalized applications.

MySQL v. Others

MySQL shares similarities with a lot of the more popular DBMS. Like MySQL, each of the top four databases (MySQL included) are relational databases. Let's compare MySQL to a non-relational database, and the most popular one is MongoDB. MongoDB stores and retrieves data as documents, those documents are called BSON Files, the binary form of a JSON file. There are also lots of other databases, and most differences lie in how they're used. Since MySQL is such a common databse, it has many applications, especailly when it comes to websites. However, it's not best to use in certain circumstances where lots of data is being transferred at any given moment. To read about more differences between MySQL and other SQL databases, click here.

Usage of MySQL

Going off the previous paragraph, MySQL is great to use with websites and web applications. It also has a quite simple process for upgrading when needed. It's also great for needing to setup distriuted databases such as primary-secondary architectures. It's advantages are its popularity, security, speed, and replication. MySQL is the second most popular DBMS as well as open source, meaning many people have become acclimated to its enviornment and been able to perfect their craft, able to help others when needed. It also "[defines] a password for the root user, removing anonymous accounts, and removing test databases that are, by default, accessible to all users", which is good for secuirty purposes. MySQL also runs incredibly fast at the cost of missing some SQL features. Last, its replication, meaning information can be shared across multiple hosts if desired, improving reliability!

To Summarize

MySQL is a great choice for a DBMS, prioritizing speed and security as well as being pretty felxible and having a large userbase. This makes it a primary choice for many developers and a great choice for smaller webpages that don't need to allow a ton of data sharing traffic.