whats the difference

Questions about the MySQL, PostgreSQL, and most other databases, as well as using it with PHP can be asked here.

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
giarkcom
Forum Newbie
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:22 pm

whats the difference

Post by giarkcom »

whats the difference between all of the database types?
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

...in which database? What specifically are you looking for? Have you look at their manual?
User avatar
califdon
Jack of Zircons
Posts: 4484
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:30 pm
Location: California, USA

Re: whats the difference

Post by califdon »

giarkcom wrote:whats the difference between all of the database types?
It's not clear what you are asking. Are you asking about generic database types like, relational, flat-file, or object-oriented? Are you asking about data types? Or are you asking about specific database software? If it's the latter, whole books have been written about the differences between, say MySQL and Postgres, or between Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server--it's much too big a subject to discuss on a forum. It's like asking what's the difference between a Dell computer and a Gateway computer.
giarkcom
Forum Newbie
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:22 pm

Post by giarkcom »

um i was just asking about general differences between mysql and...say.....portgesql(dont get mad at me for spelling).
User avatar
califdon
Jack of Zircons
Posts: 4484
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:30 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by califdon »

Nobody will get mad at you for spelling errors (although it helps if you can express your question in a way that makes sense so we can try to answer it).

There are literally dozens of database engines, like MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, MS SQL, Access, FoxPro, Informix, DB2, and on and on. As I said in my previous post, a comparison of these engines would take perhaps hundreds of pages, so don't expect a clear answer in a forum.

But in general, you might want to distinguish between commercial databases that cost a lot of money to buy, and open source databases that are free to use. MySQL and Postgres are open source. The rest that I mentioned above are commercial. The next thing is what OS they will operate under. MySQL is available for use with Linux and Windows (not sure about Macs, but I think so). Postgres only works under Linux, as far as I know. MS SQL, Access and FoxPro are Windows software. Most all of them will handle multiple relational tables with millions of records. They all can be manipulated with Structured Query Language (SQL). "What are the differences?" It's like asking what are the differences between Toyotas and Mazdas and BMWs. There are LOTS of differences, but they all do basically the same job.

Beyond that, if you are really interested, you can look up each of these in Google and read what they can do.
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

There are official builds of Postgres for Windows now.
User avatar
califdon
Jack of Zircons
Posts: 4484
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:30 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by califdon »

Cool!
Post Reply