What is MySQL?

MySQL is the world's most widely used open-source Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). Known for its performance, ease of use, low cost, and flexibility, MySQL is the backend for a variety of use cases and is used with programming languages such as Java, PHP, and Python to build applications. Originally developed by MySQL AB in 1995, and now developed by Oracle Corporation, it has almost 30 years of community-backed development, innovation, and support behind it.

In this article, we explore the core features of MySQL, how companies use it in various business applications, and share key advantages of leveraging MySQL.

Core features

  • Open-source

    MySQL is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) making it free to use, and the source code can be modified to best adapt to your use case. This open-source nature has allowed MySQL to gain a large developer community that works on frequent updates, bug fixes, and provides a broad ecosystem of 3rd-party tools.

  • Relational database engine

    Since MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS), that means that it stores data in structured tables that relate to each other. MySQL uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to manage and query the data that is stored.

  • Pluggable storage engines

    MySQL supports storage engines including InnoDB (default), MyISAM, Memory, and others that can be chosen to be used based on your business needs such as performance, feature requirements, and reliability. This helps make MySQL flexible for various use cases.

  • Replication support

    MySQL has built-in master-slave replication for high availability, data redundancy, and scaling. This means that the data from one MySQL server (the master) handles all WRITE operations, and that data is replicated to other servers (slave servers) that handle READ operations.

  • User management, access control, & security features

    MySQL offers a strong authentication system that allows businesses to enforce who can work with the data stored in their server. This is handled by support for user roles/privileges for authentication, SSL encryption, and secure data storage options.

  • Cross-platform compatibility

    MySQL supports major operating systems including Windows, Linux, macOS, and others. This makes it easy to develop and highly portable across various environments.

  • ACID compliance

    When using the InnoDB (default) storage engine, MySQL adheres to the Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID) properties for the processing of data. This ensures reliability in the event of crashes, power outages, or other unexpected issues.

How businesses use MySQL

Since MySQL is reliable, scalable, and cost-effective, it is the backend database for a large amount of major business applications and BI tools. It is used in situations where a reliable database is needed to manage large datasets and below are some common business applications for MySQL:

  • E-commerce

    Retailers and other marketplaces such as Shopify or Magento use MySQL to manage and track inventories, orders, payments, and other retail-related data points.

  • CRMs and business systems

    MySQL is the backend for many business systems that are used to track sales leads, customer interactions, and support tickets.

  • Content management systems (CMS) & social platforms

    Many popular CMS and Social Media platforms rely on MySQL to store user profiles, content, comments/posts, and configuration settings.

  • Financial services

    Financial applications use MySQL to manage transaction data, customer accounts, and financial records because of its reliability and scalability.

  • Healthcare

    MySQL is used in healthcare programs to assist with storing patient information, medical histories, and treatment/diagnostic plans.

Advantages of using MySQL

  • Cost-effective

    The free licensing offered for MySQL makes it supremely cost-effective for any sized business or developer. Additionally, the massive open-source community for MySQL provides extensive documentation/research on MySQL and a large ecosystem of tools that it can be used with.

  • Ease of use

    On the back of the open-source community, MySQL has a wide range of tutorials, guides, and other resources that make it easy to start using MySQL. The intuitive and standardized SQL syntax makes it simple for both new and experienced developers to learn how to use MySQL.

  • High performance and scalability

    MySQL offers fast data processing and retrieval for very large datasets because of its efficient indexing, in-memory capabilities, and query optimization. MySQL's features also make it very simple to scale vertically or horizontally as your datasets grow.

  • Reliability and security

    MySQL's ACID compliance and replication support ensures data integrity and high availability for your data while the built-in security features such as user management and SSL encryption ensure your sensitive data is protected.

  • Flexible deployment options (Runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS)

    MySQL can be deployed on all major operating systems and is available as self-hosted, containerized, or fully managed instances. This allows developers to choose whichever infrastructure fits their project best.

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