When it comes to picking a relational database, you might find yourself comparing two options
PostgreSQL and MySQL. And this isn't an easy decision as there are many similarities between
them, but give me a couple of minutes and I think I can guide you in the right direction. Oh, and I
have a joke to share about PostgreSQL and MySQL written by Artificial Intelligence. You won't
want to miss it. So before we explore how they are different, let's briefly ask how PostgreSQL,
also known as PostgreSQL and MySQL, are similar because they do share a number of similarities.
For example, both are relational database management systems. Relational database management
systems RDBMS, which means they organize data into tables. Both rely on sequel or structured
query language, which is the standard language for interaction with management systems. With sequel,
analysts don't need to know where a given table is, like, for example, and order table. We don't
need to know where it resides on disk or how to perform a look up to find a specific order in
that table, or how to connect that order table to another table like a customer table together
because the database compiles the query and figures out all of the correct data points
and both also support JSON. So that's the JavaScript object notation to store and
transport data. But PostgreSQL and MySQL offer fundamentally different value propositions.
So PostgreSQL is one of the most compliant, stable and mature relational databases available today,
and it's very good with complex queries. PostgreSQL is object relational and it
appeals to enterprise database administrators responsible for managing online transaction
processing that is O, L, T, P and OLTP firmly goes under the PostgreSQL column,
and it provides those protocols for business activities like e-commerce,
like customer relationship management and like financial ledgers. It's also ideal for
managing the analytics of the data received, created and generated. Now, why is that? Well,
some of the benefits of PostgreSQL are, first of all, related to performance and to scalability.
So PostgreSQL has a number of performance and scalability features, including extensive data
analysis across multiple data types. There's also MVCC, that's multi version concurrency control and
that enables the simultaneous occurrence of right operations and reads. And there's also business
continuity support with PostgreSQL and that's provided with high availability of services
through asynchronous or synchronous replication methods across servers. If you need to process
complex queries with multiple data types support and if you're looking for a database with great
concurrency control, PostgreSQL should be a go to option. Now MySQL, on the other hand,
is an open source relational database management system that's been around for a long time. It's
very well established and is known for being easy to use and being very fast, making it a
popular choice for web applications in particular. MySQL is typically used for smaller scale web apps
that don't need the same level of performance and complexity as enterprise applications, although it
is used sometimes as well as some of the other benefits of my sequel are just the ease of use.
It's a very easy to use database system and it's also been very, very optimized fast to get it up
and running and get started. And that really goes to my next point, which is speed. So far,
the support for high speed partial index is this full text indexes and has unique memory caches
that can result in superior database performance. And there is also support for scalability
with MySQL, with support for unlimited storage growth and a small footprint.
If you're looking for a fast, easy to use database for small to medium sized web applications, MySQL
is a great option. Oh, and I don't want to forget my A.I. generated joke created by a generative
pre-trained transformer. It basically goes something like this. There's a mythical database
administrator and they were showing a PostgreSQL data admin around his office. So the MySQL admin
showed her the server room is stacked full of servers and the PostgreSQL admin was impressed.
Then the MySQL clapping showed her the room where the backups were stored. Racks and racks
of storage. Very impressive, the PostgreSQL admin said. And then finally, the MySQL administrator
took her to the room where the developers worked. The PostgreSQL administrator was shocked to see
that there was only one developer working there. "Why do you only have one developer?" She asked.
"Because the MySQL administrator replied with MySQL, we don't need any more."
Maybe it's just me, but I actually do see the humor in that because my sequel is powerful,
yet easy to use. It doesn't need a lot development of resources. So look, broadly speaking here,
if you need a database for an enterprise application that can handle complex queries
and multiple data types, you might want to go with PostgreSQL. If you need a fast,
easy to use database for small to medium sized web applications, you might choose to go with
MySQL. And if you want to write database jokes, well well, that's a problem for another day.