Differences between MySQL and SQL Server

150

I'm an ASP.NET developer who has used Microsoft SQL Server for all my database needs (both at work and for personal projects).

I am considering trying out the LAMP stack for some of my personal projects.

What are some of the main differences between MySQL and SQL Server? Is using stored procedures a common practice in MySQL?

Any advice or resources you'd recommend to help me with the switch?

To those who have experience with both, are there any missing features from MySQL?

mysql sql-server t-sql

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@abdu

The main thing I've found that MySQL has over MSSQL is timezone support - the ability to nicely change between timezones, respecting daylight savings is fantastic.

Compare this:

mysql> SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2008-04-01 12:00:00', 'UTC', 'America/Los_Angeles');
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| CONVERT_TZ('2008-04-01 12:00:00', 'UTC', 'America/Los_Angeles') |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2008-04-01 05:00:00                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

to the contortions involved at this answer.

As for the 'easier to use' comment, I would say that the point is that they are different, and if you know one, there will be an overhead in learning the other.

answered 2008-09-09T05:22:28.587

Differences between MySQL and SQL Server

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