[ILUG-Webdev] MySQL Version 4.0 Dubbed "Production"

[adam beecher]

MySQL Version 4.0 Dubbed “Production”
25 Mar 2003

MySQL AB Confirms Version 4.0.12 Ready for all Application Areas

SEATTLE, Wash. – (March 25, 2003) – MySQL AB, developer of the world's most
popular Open Source database, today announced that the MySQL™ database
version 4.0 has been labeled “production,” indicating that it is ready for
any MySQL deployment. To reach production status, MySQL software must pass a
series of rigorous tests with no fatal bugs and then undergo
 “battle-testing” in live environments for a minimum of three months.
Starting with the newest release, 4.0.12, MySQL version 4.0 is now the
standard code base for all MySQL database downloads.

Development releases of MySQL version 4.0 have been available since October,
2001. In early 2002, an alpha development release of MySQL version 4.0
tested as having the overall best performance and scalability, along with
Oracle9i, in a benchmark comparison to databases from IBM, Microsoft, Oracle
and Sybase, performed by Ziff Davis Media Inc. (For the full review go to
http://www.eweek.com/article/0,3658,s=708&a=23115,00.asp). Since then, MySQL
version 4.0 has been used and tested extensively at many large organizations
to ensure the highest level of quality and reliability.

“Even though proven development releases of 4.0 have been out for well over
a year, we know that many MySQL users have been waiting for it to go
production before upgrading. Now that it’s been thoroughly tested by
thousands of users, with no major bugs having been found in many months, we
are confident that version 4.0 can be used reliably in any MySQL
implementation – whether it’s in the enterprise, embedded in third-party
software or in a large Web application,” said Michael “Monty” Widenius,
MySQL AB CTO and co-founder.

MySQL Version 4.0 Enhances Speed, Adds Key Features
The main new features of MySQL version 4.0 are geared toward enhancing the
MySQL database software as the solution for mission-critical, heavy-load
database systems and to optimize performance as an embedded database. MySQL
version 4.0 includes:

A query cache, offering increased performance for many applications with
repetitive queries
Full-text indexing, searching on packed indexes, bulk inserts and other new
optimizations for faster query execution
An embedded MySQL server library, making the MySQL database faster and
easier as an embedded database in other applications
The transactional engine, InnoDB, in the standard 4.0 binaries, adding
transactions, row-level locking, and foreign key integrity
Features to simplify migration from other databases to MySQL, such as the
“Truncate Table,” “Union” and “Cast” SQL syntax additions
More detailed information about new features in MySQL version 4.0 can be
found at the MySQL AB Web site at
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Nutshell_4.0_features.html.

"MySQL version 4.0 provides a rich array of new features, including the
impressive new query cache feature and the InnoDB transactional engine,"
said Anthony Boyd, manager of Web Technology at Silicon Storage Technology,
Inc., a major flash memory provider based in Sunnyvale, California. "In
addition to several stand-out and ease-of-use improvements, we have found
the upgrade to MySQL version 4.0 from version 3.23 to be an easy one."

Foundation for Future Versions
MySQL version 4.0 provides the foundation for significant new features that
will be available in upcoming MySQL versions, such as subqueries, which are
in MySQL version 4.1, as well as stored procedures and foreign key integrity
rules for the MyISAM storage engine, which are targeted for MySQL version
5.0.

MySQL AB developers will provide detailed overviews and demonstrations of
key current and upcoming MySQL database features, such as stored procedures
and subqueries, at the first annual MySQL Users Conference, April 10-12 in
San Jose, California. More information about the MySQL Users Conference 2003
can be found at http://www.mysql.com/events/uc2003/.

Availability
MySQL 4.0.12 is now available in source and binary form for a number of
platforms from the MySQL AB download pages at
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/.

The source code for the latest development version of MySQL (version 4.1) is
now available from MySQL AB at
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-4.1.html. Binaries for MySQL version
4.1 will be available soon.

MySQL AB will continue to update the previous production release, version
3.23, with critical bugs and security fixes until further notice. To
encourage and ease upgrade to MySQL version 4.0, the company will provide an
outline for its 3.23 phase-out plans.

About MySQL
MySQL AB develops, markets and supports the MySQL database server, the
world's most popular Open Source database. With an estimated 4 million
installations and averaging over 27,000 downloads per day, MySQL is quickly
becoming the core of many high-volume, business-critical applications. Major
corporations such as Yahoo!, Lucent Technologies, Sony Pictures Digital
Entertainment, Motorola, NASA, Silicon Graphics, HP, Xerox and Cisco rely on
the ultra-fast, highly-reliable MySQL database. MySQL is available under the
Free Software/Open Source GNU General Public License (GPL) or a non-GPL
commercial license. For more information about MySQL, please go to
www.mysql.com.

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MySQL is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in Sweden and is a trademark of
MySQL AB in the USA and other countries. Other products mentioned are the
trademarks of their respective corporations.