Preface

This is the official MySQL™ Reference Manual by the developers of the MySQL software. We are very happy that, together with our publisher O'Reilly & Associates, we can now give you easy access to all the essential information about MySQL, whether you are a user, a developer, or a decision maker.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the widespread deployment of MySQL, which now comprises an estimated three million installations on various Unix, Windows, and Macintosh servers worldwide. MySQL would not be the success that it is today without the help from our users. You have provided MySQL APIs for different programming languages and applications, given us valuable suggestions and constructive criticism, and supplied us with excellent bug reports.

With MySQL now reaching out into new realms, let me take this opportunity to give some background information about MySQL and to address a few common misunderstandings about MySQL.

The MySQL RDBMS is provided by a commercial company, MySQL AB. MySQL AB is a Swedish company formed by my colleague David Axmark and me. Together we have created, developed, and supported MySQL since 1995. It is now March 2002, and MySQL AB has grown to over 40 full-time employees, working from most continents of our planet.

Although numerous people have contributed to the many MySQL APIs, clients, and add-ons, MySQL AB retains the copyright to the server code. This puts us in the unique position of being able to offer our product with dual licensing. With the GPL license, we are at the forefront of promoting open source and free software ideology; with our commercial license, we are a leading commercial database for embedded use in applications.

MySQL AB offers a complete range of support options and services to its users. Open source software is often criticised for not being supported by commercial entities, but we have supported MySQL from the beginning. We are undeniably proud of having created a product that is so stable that customers rarely need to turn to us for help, yet at the same time, we have been providing technical support to customers running MySQL in mission-critical applications for several years.

Lastly, the MySQL server is intended for mission-critical, high-load applications. Yes, we support ACID transactions. Yes, through the InnoDB table handler, we support row-level locking. We feature clustering in the form of MySQL replication. During this year, we will concentrate our development on adding support for subqueries, stored procedures, triggers, and referential integrity. For more details, announcements, and new-version downloads, stay tuned to our web site at http://www.mysql.com/.

In closing, I would like to extend my thanks to all my fellow employees at MySQL AB and also to my wonderful family, who has supported my commitment through the many early years of MySQL. Ett stort tack, Carola, My och Max!

Helsingfors, Finland, March 2002 
Michael "Monty" Widenius 
CTO and Founder, MySQL AB