[Lias] MySQL supports transactions

[Arjen G. Lentz]

Hi people,

> On Sun, 2 Dec 2001, Celestial Wizard wrote:
> > Not wanting to start a database war, but what are the comparative
> > benefits of one system over another?

It is not quite that simple as X is better than Y because Z.... each database
system has its advantages, and through its design (which produces those
advantages) there are inevitable tradeoffs that might make that system
unsuitable for certain other applications. And naturally, over time each
system develops. So, it depends on the version of the database software, the
user's preference, the specific application, the platform(s) on which the
server and the clients need to run, etc.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Hall" <admin at openlearningcommunity.org>

> Generally speaking, MySQL is faster and simpler but PostgreSQL
> has more advanced features like transactions.

Auch. I'm afraid this info is very outdated, MySQL has supported transactions
for well over a year now. Not only in the newly released 4.0 tree, but also in
3.23. The trick lies in the support for multiple table types, MySQL has its
MyISAM tables (non-transactional) as well as InnoDB and BDB tables which are
transactional (InnoDB is fully ACID compliant). One can select the table type
per table, so one can even have different types within a single database.
The InnoDB transactional table handler is very fast, optimised for large data
volumes, and in some cases actually outperforms MyISAM even on smaller tables.

InnoDB in MySQL 3.23 (as well as 4.0, of course) also offers some foreign key
support.


We know that the MySQL/transactions thing is a very common misconception, it
will certainly take some time for the outdated info to die out. It is always
very important to check on upto-date issues straight from the source of the
product. In case of MySQL, the website (www.mysql.com) and online manual
(www.mysql.com/doc/) are good reference points when you want to check up on
features in the latest version, the items on the agenda for the near future,
stuff like that....


Regards,
Arjen.

--
MySQL Training Worldwide, http://www.mysql.com/training/
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