On Thu, 29 May 2003, Saravanan Thulukanam wrote:
> Can you experts out there tell me whether MySQL is great or PostgreSQL
> is great.
Yes, they are both great.
MySQL is designed as a high speed data storage system with minimal
relational capabilities and almost non-existent contraint capabilities.
While they are adding some transactional features, MySQL is still far
behind Postgresql in transactional terms.
Postgresql is designed as a highly versatile relational database with a
focus on getting the data right at all costs and providing the database
developer with a feature full environment.
While you can use Postgresql in the place of MySQL for many tasks, there
are many tasks for which MySQL simply cannot replace Postgresql unless
you're willing to do a large amount of coding outside MySQL to make up for
the shortcomings.
Since database speed has never been an issue for the stuff I do, I've
never needed to sacrifice the rich environment of Postgresql for the
faster one of MySQL in production.