6 ms·

Probably because they don't use it: http://techstacks.io/alibaba http://techstacks.io/alibaba

by autotune 9y ago

zerr 9y ago
What's the reason nowadays to use MySQL/MariaDB instead of PostgreSQL?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- richardknop 9y ago
  That question could be asked in a reversed fashion too. PostgreSQL is the favorite database here on HN (I prefer it too) but for a generic company out there MySQL/PostgreSQL are interchangeable. Won't really matter which one you choose and I think it's easier to hire people with MySQL experience.
- mdnormy 9y ago
  Familiarity? MySQL/MariaDB is pretty much the "standard" database that most programmer started with. At least in university. So there is no point on using PosgreSQL if MariaDB fits the bill for them. Less learning curve, easy to hire for etc
  - jstarfish 9y ago
    Also the default database on most shared hosting, so anybody who got a start in web dev likely cut their teeth on MySQL.
    - type0 9y ago
      Yeah, LAMP stacks are to blame for it's popularity.
  - takeda 9y ago
    I actually had databases class which used MySQL for exercises and essentially it was like this: * you can configure triggers for a table, but you can't use them in MySQL unless you make sure the table is InnoDB (this was a while ago before defaults changed) * MySQL doesn't support aborting INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE from trigger, but you can emulate it by throwing an exception * a table can have a CHECK constraint, but you can't use it because it is not available in MySQL Makes one wonder MySQL was picked for that class. I get that it was because it was very popular at the time, but it felt like a toy compared to a functionality that any other database had.
  - technion 9y ago
    University? I'm interested in what people's experiences here are. I spent the entire of my degree deep in Oracle, persistently being warned a database without object-relational queries were absolutely never used in the real world (how ironic).
- icelancer 9y ago
  In-memory capability, hiring pool of MySQL/MariaDB developers tends to be larger/wider, Galera cluster (M-M functionality), if the queries trend towards simplicity then MySQL/MariaDB tends to be more performant, Postgres can have issues with write amplification, etc. Uber (I know, I know) switched to MySQL, here are some reasons why: https://eng.uber.com/mysql-migration/ https://eng.uber.com/mysql-migration/
  - netcraft 9y ago
    can you elaborate on the in-memory capabilities you mention? My google searches aren't yielding anything.
    - j_s 9y ago
      https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/memory-storage-engine.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/memory-storage-engin... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10692398/how-do-i-make-a-mysql-database-run-completely-in-memory https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10692398/how-do-i-make-a... https://www.google.com/search?q=mysql+in-memory https://www.google.com/search?q=mysql+in-memory maybe?
      - netcraft 9y ago
        I'm aware of the memory capabilities of mysql in general, but the insinuation was that mysql had more capabilities of in-memory processing than postgres - I dont see anything in those links that are things that postgres cant do - although they may be implemented differently.
        haimez 9y ago
        The honest answer is that you can get the desired result with Postgres, even if it might require a custom foreign data wrapper implementation. Carpenters pick their favorite saws, and they like MySQL. To be fair, uber did get burned by a Postgres replication failure- but they also had a NOC team promote 3 bad replicas to primary before stepping back to reconsider their approach. Carpenters do hate losing their fingers in circular saws.
- Thaxll 9y ago
  MySQL is faster. There are people that will argue against it but they probably don't understand how the vacuum works. Also if you only read HN yeah you're bias on Postgres vs MySQL. On the end Postgres is "better" but MySQL is already pretty good, it's not like you're comparing a good product to a bad one, both of them are good.
  - qaq 9y ago
    InnoDB is MVCC too

Probably because they don't use it: http://techstacks.io/alibaba http://techstacks.io/alibaba

zerr 9y ago

What's the reason nowadays to use MySQL/MariaDB instead of PostgreSQL?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
richardknop 9y ago
That question could be asked in a reversed fashion too. PostgreSQL is the favorite database here on HN (I prefer it too) but for a generic company out there MySQL/PostgreSQL are interchangeable. Won't really matter which one you choose and I think it's easier to hire people with MySQL experience.
mdnormy 9y ago
Familiarity? MySQL/MariaDB is pretty much the "standard" database that most programmer started with. At least in university. So there is no point on using PosgreSQL if MariaDB fits the bill for them. Less learning curve, easy to hire for etc
- jstarfish 9y ago
  Also the default database on most shared hosting, so anybody who got a start in web dev likely cut their teeth on MySQL.
  - type0 9y ago
    Yeah, LAMP stacks are to blame for it's popularity.
- takeda 9y ago
  I actually had databases class which used MySQL for exercises and essentially it was like this: * you can configure triggers for a table, but you can't use them in MySQL unless you make sure the table is InnoDB (this was a while ago before defaults changed) * MySQL doesn't support aborting INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE from trigger, but you can emulate it by throwing an exception * a table can have a CHECK constraint, but you can't use it because it is not available in MySQL Makes one wonder MySQL was picked for that class. I get that it was because it was very popular at the time, but it felt like a toy compared to a functionality that any other database had.
- technion 9y ago
  University? I'm interested in what people's experiences here are. I spent the entire of my degree deep in Oracle, persistently being warned a database without object-relational queries were absolutely never used in the real world (how ironic).
icelancer 9y ago
In-memory capability, hiring pool of MySQL/MariaDB developers tends to be larger/wider, Galera cluster (M-M functionality), if the queries trend towards simplicity then MySQL/MariaDB tends to be more performant, Postgres can have issues with write amplification, etc. Uber (I know, I know) switched to MySQL, here are some reasons why: https://eng.uber.com/mysql-migration/ https://eng.uber.com/mysql-migration/
- netcraft 9y ago
  can you elaborate on the in-memory capabilities you mention? My google searches aren't yielding anything.
  - j_s 9y ago
    https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/memory-storage-engine.html https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/memory-storage-engin... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10692398/how-do-i-make-a-mysql-database-run-completely-in-memory https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10692398/how-do-i-make-a... https://www.google.com/search?q=mysql+in-memory https://www.google.com/search?q=mysql+in-memory maybe?
    - netcraft 9y ago
      I'm aware of the memory capabilities of mysql in general, but the insinuation was that mysql had more capabilities of in-memory processing than postgres - I dont see anything in those links that are things that postgres cant do - although they may be implemented differently.
      - haimez 9y ago
        The honest answer is that you can get the desired result with Postgres, even if it might require a custom foreign data wrapper implementation. Carpenters pick their favorite saws, and they like MySQL. To be fair, uber did get burned by a Postgres replication failure- but they also had a NOC team promote 3 bad replicas to primary before stepping back to reconsider their approach. Carpenters do hate losing their fingers in circular saws.
Thaxll 9y ago
MySQL is faster. There are people that will argue against it but they probably don't understand how the vacuum works. Also if you only read HN yeah you're bias on Postgres vs MySQL. On the end Postgres is "better" but MySQL is already pretty good, it's not like you're comparing a good product to a bad one, both of them are good.
- qaq 9y ago
  InnoDB is MVCC too