Introduction to MySQL Stored Programs

When MySQL first emerged into the IT world in the mid-1990s, it had few of the characteristics normally associated with commercial relational databases. Features such as transactional support, subqueries, views, and stored procedures were conspicuously absent. Subsequent releases provided most of the missing features, and nowwith the introduction of stored procedures, functions, and triggers in MySQL 5 (as well as updateable views and a data dictionary)the feature gap between MySQL and other relational database systems is narrow indeed.

The introduction of stored programs (our generic term for stored procedures, functions, and triggers) has significance beyond simply winning a features war with competitive database systems. Without stored programs, MySQL cannot claim full compliance with a variety of standards, including ANSI/ISO standards that describe how a DBMS should execute stored programs. Furthermore, judicious use of stored programs can lead to greater database security and integrity and can improve overall application performance and maintainability. We outline these advantages in greater detail later in this chapter.

In short, stored programsprocedures, functions, and triggersadd significantly to the capabilities of MySQL, and a working knowledge of stored programming should be an essential skill for the MySQL professional.

This chapter introduces the MySQL stored program language, its origins, and its capabilities. It also offers a guide to additional resources for MySQL stored program developers and some words of overall development advice.