The MySQL database server is the world's most popular open source database.
MySQL 4.1, the latest production-ready release includes numerous enhancements
that improve performance, internationalization, and the ability to embed the
MySQL Server with other hardware and software solutions.
Anders Karlsson takes a look at the new spatial extensions in MySQL 4.1,
which allow for easier manipulation and storage of spatial data in geographic
information system (GIS) and non-GIS applications.
We continue our tour of new features in MySQL 4.1 with a look at the
extended character set handling, including support for Unicode. The article by
Jim Winstead also includes a technique for handling UTF-8 data in web forms
that copes with broken browser implementations.
A new feature just introduced with MySQL 4.1.5 is a totally revamped
installer for the Microsoft Windows platform. Michael G. Zinner explains the
new installer and how you can use it to get MySQL up and running even more
quickly on Windows.
Harrison Fisk explains the benefits (and trade-offs) of the new
server-side prepared statements and the support for it from various
programming languages.
We continue our tour of new and improved features in 4.1 with a look at
the changes to the temporal (date and time related) functionality, including
support for fractional seconds, time zones, and a small army of new functions
for slicing and dicing temporal information.
Subqueries are another way to get data from multiple tables using a single query, and MySQL 4.1 includes support for this standard SQL construct. Trudy Pelzer explains what this allows you to do, along with examples.
We've covered the major features in 4.1, now we wrap up our 'New in 4.1' series with an article about all of the little features. But don't let their small size fool you, some of these features may be just what you've been needing from your database server.
