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I used to work with the mysql gem, but often nowadays I hear about the mysql2 gem. Also, it is included in the Gemfile by default in Rails 3.0.x.
What is the difference and advantages of using the mysql2 gem?
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The mysql2 Ruby gem provides an API for connecting to MySQL, performing queries, and iterating through results; it is intended to support MySQL 5.6, 5.7, and 8.0.
MySQL has turned out to be one of the most popular open-source databases used by organizations for web development. It is the central component of LAMP, which is a software stack model that facilitates building web applications and websites.
MySQL2 project is a continuation of MySQL-Native. Protocol parser code was rewritten from scratch and api changed to match popular mysqljs/mysql. MySQL2 team is working together with mysqljs/mysql team to factor out shared code and move it under mysqljs organisation.
Here's a quote from the mysql2 gem page:
Yeah… but why?
Someone: Dude, the Mysql gem works fiiiiiine.
Me: It sure does, but it only hands you nil and strings for field values. Leaving you to convert them into proper Ruby types in Ruby-land - which is slow as balls.
Someone: OK fine, but do_mysql can already give me back values with Ruby objects mapped to MySQL types.
Me: Yep, but its API is considerably more complex and can be ~2x slower.
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mysql2 is very much faster than the mysql gem. Also, apart from being effective, it also has more features and is more fun, just like Ruby on Rails.
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