[Zope] MySQL - PostgreSQL - ZODB

Shane Hathaway shathaway@earthling.net
Mon, 08 May 2000 11:44:25 -0400


Monty Taylor wrote:
> 
> Possibilities for flaming aside, I must say that I break from the
> pervasive attitude of Zope culture and defend MySQL a bit.

As I see it, it is sensible to choose MySQL over an ACID-compliant
database when you'll be performing 99.9% read operations.  The
comparison charts on mysql.com, astounding as they are, appear to be
correct.  MySQL is indeed very fast, especially compared with
PostgreSQL.

However, using MySQL, if someone is writing to multiple tables in the
database while someone else is reading it, the database will not appear
to be consistent to the reader until the write operation is complete. 
That is not a bug.  It is part of the design of MySQL.  Apparently
MySQL is faster because of it.

So, as always, choose your database wisely.  If you want another
chaotic but high-capacity Slashdot, use MySQL.  If you want perfect
integrity even during an onslaught of write operations, use something
else.

It is also my understanding that Zope, when it is capable of using an
SQL database as its primary storage, will not be tied to any specific
database type.

Shane