Java Reference
In-Depth Information
14.5.1
MySQL is a very fast but somewhat limited SQL database system. It is wildly
popular mainly because it is simple, fast, and Free. It is everything that you
would need to back a dynamic Web site. As of this writing, the stable produc-
tion version of MySQL is 4.0.16, but most Linux distributions are still shipping
something from the 3.23.x series.
At this point, MySQL lacks some key features:
MySQL
• Stored procedures
• Sub-SELECTs
• Triggers
Version 4.0.x does support some long-awaited features (if you use the
InnoDB table type instead of the default MyISAM tables), such as row-level
locking, foreign keys, and transactions. But InnoDB tables are not directly
available in the 3.23.x versions still shipping with many distributions.
MySQL is an excellent choice for designs that do not require stored proce-
dures, triggers, or transactions. It is widely used as a back end for dynamic Web
sites—applications with many reading users and few writing users.
For more information on MySQL, see
Core MySQL
by Leon Atkinson
(ISBN 0-13-066190-2).
14.5.2
PostgreSQL is a surprisingly complete and full-featured database offering.
Not only does it fully support stored procedures, triggers, views, foreign
keys, and transactions, but it also implements an innovative “record versioning”
system for multiuser integrity. Unlike many other databases, readers may con-
tinue to read consistent data during writing activity (
nonblocking revisions
), and
backups may be taken while the database is still available for queries. This is a
serious database.
This database has excellent public documentation. Take a look at the
PostgreSQL Documentation.
1
Another useful book is
PostgreSQL
by Korry and
Susan Douglas (ISBN 0-7357-1257-3).
PostgreSQL
1.
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/index.html
