How to Decide on MySQL Over SQL Server in PostgreSQL

Galaxy Glossary

Why should I use MySQL instead of SQL Server?

Explains practical reasons, syntax differences, and migration tips for choosing MySQL instead of SQL Server.

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Description

Example H2

Example H3

What advantages does MySQL have over SQL Server?

MySQL’s GPL license lets most projects run it free of charge, while SQL Server requires paid editions for production workloads.

MySQL installs on Windows, macOS, and every major Linux distro; SQL Server is limited to Windows and a narrower list of certified Linux distributions.

Because MySQL’s source is open, hundreds of storage engines, monitoring tools, and connectors exist, reducing vendor lock-in.

MySQL’s binary size and RAM footprint are lighter, making it ideal for containerized micro-services and edge devices.

MySQL offers native asynchronous replication and easy sharding via MySQL Router, which helps horizontal scale-out.

How do common SQL statements differ?

Creating an auto-incrementing primary key

In MySQL:

CREATE TABLE Customers ( id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100), email VARCHAR(255), created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP );

In SQL Server:

CREATE TABLE Customers ( id INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100), email VARCHAR(255), created_at DATETIME DEFAULT GETDATE() );

Limiting result sets

MySQL:

SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY order_date DESC LIMIT 10;

SQL Server:

SELECT TOP 10 * FROM Orders ORDER BY order_date DESC;

When should an ecommerce team choose MySQL?

Start-ups wanting zero licensing cost, quick Docker deployment, and community plugins (e.g., ProxySQL for caching) benefit most.

Read-heavy stores needing many replicas for product catalog queries scale cheaply with MySQL’s replication.

Teams already using LAMP stacks or Kubernetes appreciate MySQL’s abundant Helm charts and Operators.

Best practices for adopting MySQL

Pick the InnoDB storage engine for ACID compliance and row-level locking.

Enable slow-query logging and use EXPLAIN plans to stay ahead of performance issues.

Automate backups with mysqldump or mysqlpump, storing them off-site.

What pitfalls should you avoid?

Do not assume SQL Server T-SQL features like Common Language Runtime (CLR) exist in MySQL; refactor before migration.

Avoid MyISAM tables in new schemas; they lack transactions and can corrupt on crash.

Why How to Decide on MySQL Over SQL Server in PostgreSQL is important

How to Decide on MySQL Over SQL Server in PostgreSQL Example Usage


-- List top 5 customers by lifetime spend in MySQL
SELECT c.id, c.name, SUM(o.total_amount) AS lifetime_value
FROM Customers c
JOIN Orders o ON o.customer_id = c.id
GROUP BY c.id, c.name
ORDER BY lifetime_value DESC
LIMIT 5;

How to Decide on MySQL Over SQL Server in PostgreSQL Syntax


-- MySQL connection example
docker run -d --name mysql -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=secret -p 3306:3306 mysql:8.0

-- Creating core ecommerce tables in MySQL
CREATE TABLE Customers (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE,
  created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

CREATE TABLE Orders (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT,
  order_date DATE,
  total_amount DECIMAL(10,2),
  FOREIGN KEY (customer_id) REFERENCES Customers(id)
);

CREATE TABLE Products (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100),
  price DECIMAL(10,2),
  stock INT
);

CREATE TABLE OrderItems (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  order_id INT,
  product_id INT,
  quantity INT,
  FOREIGN KEY (order_id) REFERENCES Orders(id),
  FOREIGN KEY (product_id) REFERENCES Products(id)
);

Common Mistakes

Assuming feature parity: Developers try to port SQL Server CLR, XML indexes, or SQL Agent jobs directly. Fix by rewriting logic in application code or using MySQL alternatives like Event Scheduler.
Ignoring storage engine choice: Using MyISAM leads to table-level locks and no crash recovery. Always select InnoDB for transactional workloads.