Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

Software Engineering

MySQL inadequecies

9 Feb 2013

This guy seriously hates MySQL:

Considering MySQL? Use something else. Already on MySQL? Migrate. For every successful project built on MySQL, you could uncover a history of time wasted mitigating MySQL’s inadequacies.

Thesis: databases fill roles ranging from pure storage to complex and interesting data processing; MySQL is differently bad at both tasks. Real apps all fall somewhere between these poles, and suffer variably from both sets of MySQL flaws.

What follows is a 5300 word treatise on the inadequacies, weird design choices, and tradeoffs that MySQL has. You’re really got to have a lot of hate to spend time writing that detailed of an analysis of something.

For those that actually use MySQL, the post serves as a great summary of things you need to be aware of. Not every tool is appropriate for every job, and every database server has some sort of deficiency, so knowing what you’re in for before you start is helpful.

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