MySQL
MySQL. Is the world’s most popular open source relational database, now led by Oracle.
Summary
What it is: Open source RDBMS with InnoDB as the default transactional engine, replication, and a large hosting ecosystem. Commercial and community builds share the same SQL surface most developers know.
When to use: Maintaining existing MySQL schemas, vendor contracts, or frameworks locked to MySQL. Short-term parity during a migration plan to Postgres.
When to skip: Greenfield OLTP or new microservices (use Postgres). Warehouse-scale analytics on GCP (BigQuery). Choosing MySQL only because it was the default a decade ago.
Hold rationale: Postgres matches or exceeds MySQL on features, extensions, and licensing clarity for new work. Existing MySQL remains supported; plan moves when touch cost is low.
Details
| Topic | Notes |
|---|---|
| Deploy | Oracle MySQL, MariaDB fork, RDS, Cloud SQL |
| Ops | Replication lag monitoring; charset and collation audits on legacy schemas |
| BI | Supported by Redash, Metabase, and most SQL BI tools |
Practices: Treat MySQL as legacy unless a hard constraint blocks migration; document schema diffs before cutover to Postgres; avoid new stored-procedure-heavy designs that increase lock-in.
References