MySQL Gains Traction Among Database Developers

Usage of MySQL, a database that is offered under both the General Public License and commercially, soared 30 percent last year, according to a new survey by Evans Data. MySQL, although primarily associated with Linux, is also available for Windows server and other operating systems.

The survey of 550 database developers was done last month and found that Microsoft SQL Server and Access usage grew 6 percent for the year. Overall, SQL Server and Access, the PC database, came in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively; MySQL at No. 3; Oracle9i at No. 4; and Oracle8i at No. 5. IBM's DB2 distributed edition was No. 7, and Sybase was No. 9, according to Evans.

A whopping 68 percent of those surveyed said they use SQL Server, Microsoft's popular Windows database. "SQL Server has had a lock on the market, mainly because Windows is so ubiquitous, [but] MySQL has really risen through the ranks and even surpassed Oracle in the survey this year," said Joe McKendrick, database analyst at Evans Data.

Forty percent of those surveyed now use MySQL, and 60 percent plan to be using it, he added.

In other findings, a healthy 62 percent of those surveyed expect to save money by implementing Linux, which should come as heartening news to MySQL, Oracle and IBM, which have wrapped themselves in the Linux banner for more than a year. Oracle, Redwood Shores, Calif., was expected to launch its Oracle 10g database by late last year, a date it appears to have missed.

The most important check boxes for database purchases according to the survey are reliability, expense and the ability to integrate with existing infrastructure, according to Evans.

"Concerns over stability, expense and how well a database plays with others are leading a quickly growing number of developers' companies to seriously consider and implement an open-source database solution," McKendrick said in a statement released Monday.

In other database news, Microsoft will roll out its delayed Reporting Services for SQL Server 2000 during a Jan. 27 Webinar.

For more on the survey, see the Evans Data site.