If you’re interested in how these three databases measure up in terms of feature sets, take a look at part one in a two part series I wrote over at Database Journal.

I discuss stored procedures, views, materialized views or snapshots, triggers, and security. Stored procedures and functions are supported on all three databases, as are views and triggers. Although MySQL and Postgres aren’t there in terms of default snapshot support, there are ways to get that functionality in a somewhat roundabout way.

Security is always a tricky question, as all the bugs out there aren’t always publicized. It’s sort of a cat and mouse game. All three databases support user based authentication to login to the database, and various privilege levels to control access to objects and data. Oracle also supports FGA or fine grained access control for …

I recently wrote a blog entry (on my Postgres blog) about hiding SQL in a stored procedure, Hiding SQL in a Stored Procedure. I decided to see if I could convert that same concept to a MySQL stored procedure.

It doesn't work exactly the same. For one, the syntax is a little different. I expected that and the syntax differences really aren't that bad. Minor tweaks really.

The second issue is the major one. While I could write the proc and return a result set, I am not, as far as I can tell, able to treat the procedure as a table. In Postgres, I created a function with a set output. Unfortunately, MySQL does not allow sets as a function result. You can return a set from a procedure though, as odd as that sounds.

So here is what I found.

My create table command and inserts ran …

Bob Zurek of EnterpriseDB posted a blog entry today titled, "We slammed into a brick wall with MySQL". If you read his blog entry, the information he is referencing is in this press release, FortiusOne Migrates GeoCommons Intelligent Mapping Website to EnterpriseDB Advanced Server.

If you read that press release, it says:

“We slammed into a brick wall with MySQL,” said Chris Ingrassia, chief technology officer, FortiusOne. “As an example, MySQL’s rather limited and incomplete spatial support dramatically impacted performance. We were looking for an affordable database solution, but we required enterprise-class features and performance that MySQL simply couldn’t deliver. Plus, philosophically we want to support …

If you are not familiar with tablespaces you may be wondering what the big deal about them is. Tablespaces are a logical addition to a database that helps maintenance, and potentially, can improve performance.

In Oracle and MySQL, a tablespace is a logical unit meant to store segments (i.e. tables and indexes). In Postgres, a tablespace is a physical unit. It is a symbolic link to a directory. Postgres does not allow tablespaces on operating systems that do not support symbolic links (such as windows).

The data file is the actual physical storage mechanism in Oracle and MySQL. Postgres stores tables in individual files. Postgres support of tablespaces is minimal. In MySQL and Oracle, performance can be improved by a more granular spread of data across disks. Ease of maintenance is maintained due to the logical grouping of tablespaces.

Oracle syntax for creating a tablespace is much the same as MySQL …

Do note: This is my personal blog, and all thoughts expressed here are my own, and are not necessarily shared by my employer.

So... I was talking with my cohort, Ulf about the future of MySQL and MaxDB.

He got me thinking about what the relationship between MySQL and SAP/MaxDB really is. What does the "partnership" mean a few levels below the VP?

To me, it means that, going forward, I expect to see a lot of communication and camaraderie between the MySQL and MaxDB developers. I expect to see a lot of MaxDB's rock solid, tried and true code become shared libraries which are then linked against by MySQL. I expect to see a lot of MySQL's tools that provide the usability and simplicity that the community has come to expect from them generalized in such a way that they can be used to administer a MaxDB system. I expect to see MaxDB adopt …