MySQL

The De Facto Standard Open-Source Relational Database

Modern businesses thrive on data. This has become a given over the past decade. And without data, your company will struggle to compete. You can consider data in 2 basic types: Big Data and everyday data. Big Data is the massive troves of data used by companies for things like marketing, branding, and trend prediction. Data on that level is often powered by NoSQL-type databases, which can handle incredibly large and dynamic datasets.

But for everyday data, your company will lean heavily on relational databases, which help to power applications like WordPress, Nextcloud, Drupal, and Joomla. In fact, countless web-based applications depend on relational databases to house the required information for those apps to run.

One of the most popular relational databases on the market is the open-source MySQL. MySQL is a relational database that was first released (internally) on May 23, 1995, by Swedish company MySQL AB. Since its inception, ownership of MySQL has changed hands a few times, but eventually, Sun Microsystems landed the database (a company that was eventually acquired by Oracle).

The acquisition by Oracle (and other factors) has led to a fork of MySQL, called MariaDB. But that fork hasn’t stopped MySQL from holding a vast majority of the relational database market share. As of now, MySQL holds a 98.90% market share with over 13 million sites using the relational database.

Few applications can claim a near 99% market share, which speaks highly of just how popular MySQL is. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a modern business that doesn’t, in some way, rely on this relational database.

MySQL Developers Hiring Guide

How to choose the best
Interview questions
Job Description

What is a Relational Database?

The first thing you should probably understand is the concept of the relational database. The name holds a very important clue—relational. A relational database is a collection of data with predefined relationships that is organized in tables. Each table consists of columns and rows and contains specified values. This data can be accessed in numerous ways without having to reorganize the tables.

The important point here is that the tables can be linked, or related, based on common data. This makes it possible for you to retrieve a new table from stored data in multiple tables with a single SQL query. It’s powerful and it’s efficient.

What is SQL?

This begs another question: What is SQL? SQL (pronounced like “sequel”) is a query language that most relational databases use to extract and/or manipulate data.

Working knowledge of SQL is absolutely crucial to being able to effectively use MySQL. Although you can certainly install and use any number of powerful GUI tools (such as MySQL Workbench and phpMyAdmin), being able to manage relational databases from the command line is one of the most wide-accepted methods.

One of the most important reasons why you should learn the SQL language is that there will be many instances where you’re dealing with a MySQL server that doesn’t include a GUI desktop. For those instances, knowing SQL will allow you to get things done.

To be blunt, if you want to get the most out of a relational database, consider SQL a must.

What Platforms Support MySQL?

Although MySQL is most at-home on Linux, you can also install and use this relational database on macOS and Windows. However, if you want to get the most out of it, you’d be best served deploying it on one of the many Linux server distributions (such as Ubuntu Server, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora Server, or Debian).

What Languages Do You Need to Know to Use MySQL?

The MySQL database works well with a number of languages. To interact with MySQL, you’ll need to know SQL. But if you’re a developer or a company looking to integrate MySQL into an application, you should also be familiar with languages like Perl, C, C++, Java, and PHP. You’ll find that PHP provides several functions to access MySQL databases. Most database administrators would do well to learn those languages along with Python, C#, and R.

Of course, the necessity to learn those languages is only dictated if you’re integrating an application with the database. If you’re simply building a framework, you will only need to understand how to create the database, add a user, and give that user permission to access the newly-created databases. That’s a bare minimum knowledge set for using a relational database.

MySQL in Use

If you’re still not sure if MySQL is the right relational database for your company, consider this shortlist of businesses that employ this tool:

Uber
Airbnb
Netflix
Pinterest
Amazon
Twitter
Shopify

NASA
US Navy
BBC
Spotify
Nokia
CERN

Eli Lilly
Square
Tesla
YouTube
Facebook
Verizon Wireless

That’s a pretty impressive list of companies, which should go a long way to prove that MySQL is more than adequate for your relational database needs.

As far as versions are concerned, there are 2:

MySQL Community Server - which is freely available to install and use and can power just about any application you need.
MySQL Enterprise Edition - a subscription-based version of the database i that includes everything you need to achieve high levels of scalability, security, reliability, and uptime.

Hiring Guide
Interview Questions
Job Description

MySQL works on a client-server architecture and allows data transmission between different entities through various networking services. The client layer is responsible for handling things like connection and authentication while the server layer is responsible for backend services like cache, buffer, and query optimization.

MySQL works with asynchronous replication i.e. replication from one master to one or several slaves. The master writes the information to a binary file, and the slaves copy that information. Dump thread takes the information from master to slave, and SQL thread checks the relay logs and updates the changes to slave.

MySQL also has semi-synchronous replication, i.e., when the master sends the information to one slave and waits until it logs it. After the slave confirms the transfer, the master commits that particular transaction.

How relevant is MySQL in today’s market

MySQL is a very prominent database management system that provides users a personalized environment to manage their data. This database is owned by Oracle and has been active since 1995. It supports dual-licensing and works with General Public License and Proprietary license.

It’s compatible with many programming languages. It supports very popular ones, like C, C++, Java, Perl, PHP, and Python. This database is also compatible with different operating systems such as macOS, Windows, Linux, and Ubuntu.

According to Statista, MySQL is the second most preferred database management software in the world. Many established companies such as Drupal, Netflix, Facebook, and WordPress use MySQL. You can also use MySQL for supporting native cloud-based applications.

Additionally, it supports ACID properties and has advanced attributes such as server-enforced referential integrity, transaction isolation levels, and instant deadlock detection. As a result, MySQL is a superb choice for small, medium, and large-scale corporations.

Issues companies face while hiring a MySQL developer

The problem with skilled MySQL developers is that they are very hard to find. Many developers don't have in-depth knowledge about the database or the expertise of managing large-scale databases.

Similarly, since all major databases use SQL, some developers know how to solve database-related issues but don’t know how to implement on-premise schema or on the cloud specifically for MySQL. Companies might face KT issues with MySQL versions, i.e., a developer may not have enough knowledge of particular exclusive MySQL versions.

How to choose the best MySQL developer?

Hiring a perfect MySQL developer can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. There are certain steps you can take to ensure that you pick the right candidate for your company. You can check the developers’ knowledge on storage engines of MySQL, such as InnoDB and MyISAM. They should also know about the MySQL replication procedures and how to set them up.

You must check the candidate’s proficiency with SQL. A MySQL developer should know about client/server architecture. They should also be able to modify particular tables/columns/rows as per business requirements.

Conclusion

MySQL is an amazing database solution that provides high scalability and agile development for businesses. It’s platform-independent and allows you to easily modify, collect and update large databases.

MySQL is really fast and ensures transaction completeness. Furthermore, with advanced database features such as triggers, subSELECT, and stored procedures, MYSQL is one of the best databases available in the market.

What is the use of Cast in MySQL?

The CAST() feature in MySQL is used to change one data type to another specified by the user. This function gives a data type a specific dynamic parameter (?) and a NULL value. This function is similar to CONVERT().

What is MySQL workbench?

MySQL Workbench is a database designing and modeling tool for better visibility of SQL queries. It has many functions, such as modeling, server configuration, and user administration. In addition, workbench helps in modeling exclusive data and ER models and supports the migration of MySQL databases to Access, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.

What are the non-functional differences between Oracle and MySQL?

MySQL is free, whereas Oracle requires licensing fees to use. They both are compatible with all major OS, but Oracle is better for enterprise use, where MYSQL is better for medium-scale applications. Oracle works with distributed databases, but MySQL does not.

Can a primary key be dropped in MySQL?

Yes, it can be dropped. To drop the primary key from a table, you can use ALTER Command followed by Primary Key. i.e., ALTER TABLE table_name DROP PRIMARY KEY.

What is BLOB in MySQL?

BLOB is an acronym that refers to a large binary object. It can store a massive amount of data such as documents, videos, and images. Its values are treated as binary strings or byte strings.

The sorting and comparison of BLOB depend on the numeric values of the bytes in columns. MySQL offers four different types of BLOB- TINYBLOB, BLOB, MEDIUMBLOB, and LONGBLOB.

We are looking for a motivated MySQL developer to join our agile team. They should be team players who are passionate about database management, creating business logic, and reporting. It’s an excellent opportunity for developers who want to do something challenging and improve their skills.

Responsibilities

Create, and modify MySQL tables.
Implement and maintain code for SQL operations
Research and debug issues. Perform troubleshooting and isolate and correct bugs.
Ensure reliability, security, and performance.
Design DR plans for replications and backup
Work on documentation and participate in Agile meetings. Convey the project requirements to concerned leaders and work in partnership with various teams
Follow best industry practices and standards.
{{Add other relevant responsibilities}}

Skills and Qualifications

Working Knowledge of MySQL, SQL, and stored procedures.
Experience in installing MYSQL code with master-slave replication architecture.
Proven experience with the newest versions of MySQL.
Experience with handling SQL statements.
Knowledge of storage engines.
Knowledge of database design principles in MySQL workarounds.
Problem-solving skills and team spirit.
{{Add other frameworks or libraries related to your development stack}}
{{List education level or certification required}}

Conclusion

If your business depends on data on an application level or requires seamless integration between applications and data, you probably need a relational database. If that’s the case, MySQL should probably be the first database you consider. Of all the relational databases available, you’ll find more support and more documentation for MySQL than nearly all of the competition, which makes this a great platform to start your relational database journey.