MySQL is simpler to use if you just need CRUD. I've used to 20+ years on prod with zero issues, except having to turn on unicode at some point along the way.
Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
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Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#62It's been a while since I've given serious thought to this question but I'm glad it's asked because I would like to re-learn and find out if those using it do so for the reasons I perceive PostgreSQL to be "superior" based on talk among peers. The basic "MySQL is faster but lighter on features" is what I recall hearing; also that PostgreSQL is "multi-paradigm" in that you can run document/NoSQL tables, ETL, and data…
MySQL 8.0 has JSON column support: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/json.html
MySQL 5.7 does too, it's a fairly mature feature at this point :)
Meanwhile MariaDB lacks a distinct JSON type, but instead provides a lot of functions for manipulating JSON stored in textual types.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#63[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#64Why not just go with MongoDB. MongoDB is webscale.
(Meanwhile a senior dev in iowa is picking up cow shit, and not regretting his career change).
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#65Here's my experience with PostgreSQL: Coming from Oracle, I've been able to use PostgreSQL pretty much as though it were Oracle, including Oracle's optimistic locking strategy. Some of the SQL functions are a little different, but it seems the underlying philosophy is the same. In other words, PostgreSQL seems like Oracle, just a little different. MySQL has always felt completely foreign to me. Depending on your back…
Hah, I always felt the same about Postgres and I still prefer the MySQL cli.
The concept of schema is also weird for MySQL users, although pervasive in some kind of Michael Stonebreaker' worldview.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#66Any "is better than" statement is frought and pointless. You've got to specify better "at what".
My 1st car was a Citroën 2CV, with a 9HP engine, zero noise isolation, barely able to keep moving forward on inclines over 10%, top speed 70 km/h, not quite rainproof... was it a better car than a Ferrari ? Yes ! because I was able to afford it and keep it maintained, and because it could go on barely-there muddy dirt roads that would have stopped and ruined a Ferrari.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#67As a software engineer that worked with a lot of different databases in the last 20 years I have come to believe that PostgreSQL is even better than Oracle (this will certainly spark some fires). I have had shit with a lot of databases but never with PostgreSQL. MySQL has some really nasty documented and undocumented "features" so I rather avoid that database. It has it's place in the universe but it's in on a differ…
When I started in the biz around 2000 any serious tech business running Oracle or maybe SQL Server if they were MS stack. Oracle was miles ahead of everyone else. In the last ten years I don't think I've seen a single org that still runs Oracle. It's legacy at this point. SQL server has surprisingly hung on, but everyone else is using something open source or something cloud.
> In the last ten years I don't think I've seen a single org that still runs Oracle.
Over here in Latvia, I've seen orgs that run Oracle and are still starting new projects in it, because that's what they know best and presumably have the licensing all figured out. Admittedly, their automatic indexing and a few other features in the recent releases are useful.
However, in practice it's easier to work with PostgreSQL and MySQL/MariaDB, because of how easy it is to launch either, be it locally or on a server, thanks to the availability of container images. Even if you can launch Oracle XE or something like it in containers, provided that you get your hands on such containers, there will still be challenges in regards to startup time, resource usage and various other quirks.
But hey, for people that don't need to use that approach, I guess nobody ever got fired for picking IBM, Microsoft or even Oracle. Personally I'd just go for PostgreSQL/MySQL/MariaDB in most cases because of the ease of use.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#68Here's two things to consider about people leaving college;
- These days people are educated with standards in mind. PostgreSQL is the tool of choice in college teaching those standards.
- People are joining the industry as developers, they are more concerned about the DEV tools than they are of the backend. PostgreSQL can keep up with those screwy ORMS no matter how obscure the SQL statements turn out to be. All these people want is to create their project and then move on to the next job. They don't want to deal with the database.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#69Don't miss out on SQLite - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31159281
SQLite if you want to skip all the complicated user access stuff. Both PostgreSQL and (ESP'LY) MySQL can mire you in nitpicky details. My 0.02€.
Re: Ask HN: Is PostgreSQL better than MySQL?
#70Yes ... but,
if you are already using MySQL, Postgres isn't sufficiently better that it justifies the cost of migrating.