The selection of a database management system is an afterthought that is always made when starting a new project, especially a Web-based project. In project development using the default option of implementing a DBMS (such as MySQL in most cases) into the project is not wrong, but using other options of DBMS implementation should also be considered. Developers should not fall into the trap of being familiar and comfortable with it.

MySQL and PostgreSQL are DBMSs that have their own advantages and benefits if developers want to implement them into their projects. However, when choosing a DBMS, developers must first determine which one is best and suitable to be implemented into their project. A good developer can always make the right decision among various options based on their differences.

Before going further into the differences between MySQL and PostgreSQL, developers should know what MySQL and PostgreSQL are. Here is the explanation.

What is MySQL?

MySQL is one of the most popular and widely used database management systems. MySQL is an RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) database system that makes database administration easier and more flexible.

MySQL can support various features that developers need in developing their projects such as multithreaded, multi-user, and SQL Database. Not only that, MySQL and the PHP programming language are an integrated system, so developers can create databases using PHP syntax.

Here are some other features offered by MySQL.

• Compliant with ANSI SQL standard
• Allows Log-based and trigger-based SSL replication
• Object-oriented and ANSI-SQL2008 compatible
• Multi-layered design with Independent modules
• Offers built-in tools for query analysis and space analysis
• Can handle any amount of data, up to 50 million rows or more
• MySQL runs on many types of UNIX, as well as on other non-UNIX
• systems such as Windows and OS/2

What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is an object relational database management system (ORDBMS). PostgreSQL as an enterprise-class relational database system offers ease of setup and deployment into available systems. It offers support for both SQL and NoSQL, and has a great community that can help developers troubleshoot issues when using PostgreSQL.

Here are some of the features offered by PostgreSQL.

• Runs on all major OS platforms that developers have
• MVCC supports a large number of concurrent users
• Extensive indexing for high performance reporting
• Support for modern applications (XML and JSON)
• ANSI SQL support for transferable skills/code
• Foreign key support for efficient data storage
• Join tables and views for flexible data retrieval
• Triggers/Stored Procedures for complex programs and transactions
• Replication for data backup and read scalability

Differences between MySQL and PostgreSQL

MySQL and PostgreSQL are DBMSs that are often used by developers. However, the two DBMSs have some differences. Here are the differences between MySQL and PostgreSQL in several categories.

Compliance with ACID

ACID refers to the database transaction-related properties of atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability. These properties ensure valid database transactions even in the event of a disruption or even a failure. ACID compliance is especially important for certain industries working in finance and healthcare.

The PostgreSQL database management system has met the requirements of ACID. While the MySQL database management system is not fully ACID compliant by design, it can be considered compliant if developers use certain storage engines such as InnoDB and NDB.

Replication

Replication is the process of copying data from one database on one machine or server to a database located on another server. The copying process will result in a distributed database system that can improve backup capabilities, as well as optimize performance by balancing the load between the replicated database and the master database.

In this criterion, MySQL or PostgreSQL have various options in terms of data replication, which developers only need to customize based on the project they are working on.

Performance

There are mostly differences when it comes to performance between MySQL and PostgreSQL. MySQL is still very fast when it comes to reading data, but only when using the old MyISAM engine. The features in the older engine are essential for enterprise or consumer-scale applications, but using the older engine is not an option.  But on the other hand, MySQL is also optimized to reduce the gap in terms of heavy data writes.

PostgreSQL has in the past performed more balanced on reads in general, but slower than MySQL. However, PostgreSQL is able to write large amounts of data more efficiently, and handle concurrency better. PostgreSQL can be applied to large systems, where the speed of reading and writing data is of utmost importance.

Security

In the security aspect, PostgreSQL prioritizes data integrity protection, implementing Multiversion Concurrency Control (MVCC) which can reduce vulnerabilities in data corruption.

While in MySQL, user data is stored in a special database, and can set access rights on users on certain hosts can only read tables, but cannot update data.

When to Use MySQL?

The main reasons developers use a DBMS like MySQL are as follows.

• Supports features like Master-Slave Replication, Scale-Out.
• Supports Offload Reporting, Geographic Data Distribution, etc.
• Very low overhead with MyISAM storage engine when used for read-heavy applications.
• Support for Memory storage engine for frequently used tables Query
• Cache for statements that are used repeatedly.
• Can easily learn and troubleshoot MySQL from various sources such as blogs, white papers, and books

When to Use PostgreSQL?

The main reasons developers use a DBMS like PostgreSQL are as follows.

• Offers useful features like Table partitioning, Point in Time Recovery,
• Transactional DDL, etc.
• Ability to utilize 3rd party Key Stores in a complete PKI infrastructure
• Developers can modify the open source code as it is licensed under BSD without the need to contribute back for upgrades
• Independent Software Vendors can redistribute it without fear of being "infected" by the open source license
• Users and Roles can be granted Object-level privileges
• Supports AES, 3DES and other data encryption algorithms.

Reference:

https://www.guru99.com/postgresql-vs-mysql-difference.html#9

https://developer.okta.com/blog/2019/07/19/mysql-vs-postgres#when-to-use-mysql

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-MySQL-and-PostgreSQL-1

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