MySQL
What it is: World's most popular open-source relational database. Powers millions of websites and applications. The M in LAMP stack.
What It Does Best
Web applications. WordPress, Drupal, billions of websites. Fast reads, battle-tested at scale.
Ease of use. Simple to install, configure, get started. Huge community, endless tutorials.
Replication. Master-slave, master-master, group replication. Scale reads horizontally.
Key Features
Storage engines: InnoDB for transactions, MyISAM for speed
Replication: Built-in master-slave and multi-master
Partitioning: Horizontal partitioning for large tables
Full-text search: Native full-text indexing
JSON support: JSON data type and functions (since 5.7)
Pricing
Community Edition: Free, GPL license (self-hosted)
AWS RDS MySQL: From $15/month for small instances
Azure Database: Pay-as-you-go, starting around $25/month
Google Cloud SQL: Similar pricing, managed service
When to Use It
✅ Web applications and CMSs (WordPress, Drupal)
✅ Read-heavy workloads
✅ Team already knows MySQL
✅ Need wide hosting support (runs everywhere)
✅ Simple relational database needs
When NOT to Use It
❌ Complex queries and analytics (Postgres better)
❌ Need advanced features (window functions, CTEs limited)
❌ Heavy write workloads (Postgres more robust)
❌ New projects (Postgres recommended instead)
❌ Need strong data integrity guarantees
Common Use Cases
Content management: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla backends
E-commerce: Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop
Web applications: User accounts, content storage
Read-heavy apps: Catalogs, directories, listings
Legacy systems: Migrating existing MySQL applications
MySQL vs Alternatives
vs PostgreSQL: Postgres more features and robust, MySQL simpler and faster for basic use
vs MariaDB: MariaDB drop-in replacement with more features, MySQL original
vs SQLite: MySQL client-server, SQLite embedded (different use cases)
Unique Strengths
Ubiquity: Runs on every hosting platform, massive ecosystem
Read performance: Optimized for fast reads
Simplicity: Easy to learn and deploy
Community size: Huge community, endless resources
Bottom line: The default database for web applications for decades. Still works great for simple use cases. For new projects, consider PostgreSQL for better features and standards compliance. For existing MySQL apps, no need to migrate unless you need Postgres features.