Re: [HACKERS] UPDATE performance degradation (6.5.1)

Oleg Bartunov <oleg@sai.msu.su> writes:
>So, I need a cron job to vaccuum database. I'm curious how mysql works
>so fast and has no problem in Web environment. I know some sites with
>mysql logging and millions of updates every day.

The mysql faq explains this in detail.  The short answer is that mysql
has been highly optimized for a small subset of possible RDBMS applications by
eliminating support for many important RDBMS features (transactions,
referential integrity, etc., etc.).

Not only is mysql faster than postgres on, e.g., simple web logging, it
is also much faster than any commercial RDBMS, such as Oracle, Sybase, etc.

In reality, mysql is little more than a flat-file database with an SQL 
query interface.  But if that's all you need for your application, then
there is no reason not to use it.  It's what my hosting service uses, and
I've learned to live with it for simple Web stuff.
-Michael Robinson