What is the best way to communicate with a MySQL server?

Question

I am going to be using C/C++, and would like to know the best way to talk to a MySQL server. Should I use the library that comes with the server installation? Are they any good libraries I should consider other than the official one?

Answer 1

MySQL++

Answer 2

That depends a bit on what you want to do.

First, check out libraries that provide connectivity to more than on DBMS platform. For example, Qt makes it very easy to connect to MySQL, MS SQL Server and a bunch of others, and change the database driver (connection type) at runtime - with just a few lines of code.

MySQL-specific libraries are fine, but bear in mind that you are locking yourself down to one DB implementation - if you ever need to change in the future it's gonna be a whole lot of work - even if you design your code such that the DB-specific stuff is behind a facade. Why not use a library that provides connectivity to multiple platforms, and save yourself the trouble?

Answer 3

OTL is a solid cross-DBMS solution for C++ that my project has been using for years. We use it to talk to SQL Server (via ODBC) and Oracle (via OCI). It's fairly easy to drive, and comes with a large number of examples across all the supported databases.

Answer 4

There is nothing wrong with MySQL's own client-libraries. If you are willing to settle for reduced functionality, you can buy yourself some extra portability by using ODBC, UDBC, apr_dbd, or some other database-abstraction library (such as the OTL offered already).

This will make switching a back-end easier, but, as I mentioned, at the expense of offering less functionality compared to that of the native client. Because DB-vendors differ, the abstraction-libraries can only really offer the functions common to all (or most) of the back-ends. Whether you prefer to optimize for a particular DB or would rather make it easier to switch back-ends, is up to you (and, perhaps, your manager).