Re: newbie question

On Sunday 07 Jul 2002 10:59 pm, Mirco D'Angelo wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am going to learn MySql 'cause I have to, but would it be better, or
> let's say, more interesting, to learn postgressql? Is it newer, more
> common, etc.?

Mysql is more common on web-hosting platforms, but you can find PostgreSQL if
you look. PostgreSQL's ancestors go back further than MySQL - both get
updated regularly, so "newer" doesn't mean much.

Mysql is easier to setup initially, but both systems require knowledge to tune
properly. Both have a lot of online documentation - I'm not sure that one is
better than the other. The mailing lists for PostgreSQL are very helpful and
contain some very experienced people.

PostgreSQL offers some more advanced features. Once you are used to these
features it is irritating to find them missing in MySql. For some
applications they are pretty much mandatory. PostgreSQL also tends to fit
standards more than MySQL. Where I use MySQL behind a website I tend to use
PostgreSQL to manage the data here during development.

I'd recommend installing both if you can. Try to make sure anything you write
works on both and check the documentation for where both diverge from
standards.

- Richard Huxton