Better to install MySQL 32bit or 64bit on my 64bit Intel-based Mac (Perl/Python user)?

Question

I have had numerous headaches trying to get the MySQL APIs for Perl and Python working on my 64 bit Macbook Pro (Leopard). I installed the 64 bit version of MySQL, but Googling around now I have the impression that this could be the source of my pain. None of the various blogs and SO answers quite seem to work (for example here on SO)

Could the 64 bit MySQL install be the culprit? Can anyone confirm that they have MySQL access via Perl and/or Python on a 64 bit Mac using 64 bit MySQL? Did you do anything special or face some similar problems?

Answer 1

32-bit and 64-bit libraries don't play nice together. So, it depends whether you're using 32-bit Perl/Python or not.

If you are, you'll need 32-bit MySQL. Chances are your Python, at least, is 32-bit, since both the Apple-shipped Python and the binaries from python.org are 32-bit only. You can build 64-bit Python (or- gasp- a 4-way i386/x86_64/ppc/ppc64 Universal Binary) from source, but unless you really need to work with absolutely huge disk files/amounts of memory (I'm talking multi-gigabyte memory maps, for example), chances are you do not need 64-bit anything right now.

Answer 2

You will need the 32vit vs 64bit of the MySQL client libraries to match the application you're trying to link them with. However, this not prevent you from connecting to a 64-bit install of MySQL server.

In Unix, the MySQL client libraries support multiple versions of themselves lying around; you just have to make sure the application is loading the correct one. This should be true to the Mac.