Difference between Postgresql vs Mysql

Databases are one of the inalienable elements to today's’ digital world, where the value of data stands second to nothing. Be it OS servers, e-mailing platforms, banking, universities or any corporation dealing with a chunk of data, employs Database Management System (DBMS) for efficient and effective management of data. A well-organized data not only helps in storage, retrieval and update of information but also plays a substantial role in decision making for the organization.

However, in the database management industry, RDBMSs (Relational Database Management Systems) has been a popular option for storing information in databases used for financial records, manufacturing, personal data, etc. RDBMSs are easier to implement and administer than network databases and hierarchical databases. In this industry, PostgreSQL and MySQL are two major domain-specific languages designed for managing data in RDBMSs.

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Comparison Chart:

Features	Postgresql	Mysql
Type	Postgresql is an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS).	Mysql is a relational database management system (RDBMS).
Licensing	Postgresql is a free and open-source database management system built under the PostgreSQL license.	Mysql is owned by Oracle and is sold in paid editions.
Usability	It offers a high read and write speed, making it suitable to be employed in large systems dealing with tons of data.	Generally used for online software and services dealing only with data transactions.
Partitioning	Postgresql doesn’t implement true partitioning but uses separate sub-table to control each partition.	MySQL uses MySQL Cluster to execute horizontal clustering that includes the creation of multiple clusters within each node.
SQL Compliance	More SQL compliant.	Partially SQL compliant.
Developer support	Extensive community support that apart from maintaining existing features also strives to new features along with security enhancements.	Large community, which mainly focuses on the maintenance of existing features, while the new features surface occasionally.
Changing default values	The default values are changeable but only at the system level.	The default values can be altered at the session level as well as statement level.
Performance	Used by companies who give priority to read and write speeds. Hence,	Extensively used in web-based projects, which requires a database system for straightforward data transactions.
Used by companies	It is the default database system for some of the major tech giants like Apple, Netflix, Face, Twitter, etc.	It is used by companies such as Uber, Pinterest, Linkedin, etc.
Security	It comes with native SSL support that encrypts client/server’s database. Additionally, if also on-board security modules like SE-PostgreSQL.	Security in Mysql is implemented based on ACL for operations such as connections and queries.
Extensibility	You can use custom datatypes of your choice and functional languages in Postgresql.	Mysql doesn’t support any extensibility.
Indexing	It comes with built-in support for standard B-tree and hash indexes. Moreover, one can also create expression indexes using the index of the result of a function.	B-trees stores most of the Mysql indexes except the one on spatial data types that uses R-tress.
Example	PostgreSQL Examples : 1) SELECT * FROM weather; 2) INSERT INTO customer(cust_id, branch, status) VALUES ('appl01', 'main', 'A'); 3) DELETE FROM COMPANY WHERE ID = 2; 4) UPDATE COMPANY SET SALARY = 15000 WHERE ID = 3; 5) drop table department, company;	MYSQL Examples: 1) SELECT * FROM weather; 2) INSERT INTO customer(cust_id, branch, status) VALUES ('appl01', 'main', 'A'); 3) DELETE FROM COMPANY WHERE ID = 2; 4) UPDATE COMPANY SET SALARY = 15000 WHERE ID = 3; 5) DROP TABLE department,company;
Programming Language Support	Support languages like R, Perl, Python, JavaScript, C/C++, Java, .Net, etc.	Supports programming languages such as C/C++, Erlang, Go, Perl, PHP, Lisp, etc.
Materialised views	Supports materialised views, which is a physical copy or snapshot of the base table. Besides this, it also supports temporary tables.	It supports temporary tables but not materialised views.
NoSQL features/JSON support	It supports many NoSQL features and has JSON support.	It also supports NoSQL features and can store JSON documents in collections, which can be managed by CRUD operations.

Let us have a look in the defining characteristics and features of both of them and try to decipher the advantages, which one has over the other.

Postgresql Introduction and Review

Postgresql is a well-pronounced name when it comes to relational database management systems.

Overview

PostgreSQL is an open source object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) developed by the Global Development Group. As an Enterprise-class regional database system, PostgreSQL is easy to set up and install.
Developed by the PostgreSQL Global Development Group, it is based on a free and open-source platform along with being ACID-compliant and transactional.
Features triggers, updatable views, foreign key, materialised views and stored procedures.

Features

Its multi-version concurrency control (MVCC) feature supports large numbers of concurrent users. This helps in making changes to a specific transaction without affecting others.
It offers extensive indexing for high-performance reporting.
Supports a wide variety of native data types and also enables the option to create custom data types.
Data retrieving becomes flexible because of Table joining and viewing feature.

Benefits

Being an open-source DBMS, PostgreSQL has a huge community of users. The users can develop modules themselves and propose the module to the developer community.
It caters to the requirements of a diverse community as users can develop modules and propose them to the community. It facilitates the transmission of ingenious knowledge within communities.
It comes with SQL functions known as Store Procedure that is useful for the server environment. It supports languages similar to PL/SQL in Oracle.
It supports replication methods like cascading, Slony-I, and Streaming Replication. It also offers support for geographic data storage techniques like PostGIS, DBLink, and Key-Value Store.
It manages its own internal security on a per-role basis. It also natively supports a wide array of external authentication mechanisms.
Available for major platforms such as Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, macOS and much more.

Mysql Introduction and Review

MySQL is one such relational database management system used by popular websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Overview

MySQL is written in C and C++ language, and it is a free and open-source database platform.
Works on many system platforms such as BSDi, AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, macOS, Linux, Windows, Symbian, etc.
The software itself along with the client libraries employs dual-licensing distribution.
It comes in two different editions, namely the open source MySQL Community Server and the proprietary Enterprise Server.
Can be used on cloud-based computing platforms like Amazon EC2, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Microsoft Azure.

Features

Comes with a wide subset of ANSI SQL 99 along with extensions.
Offers updatable views, cursors, triggers and stored procedures.
Supports full-text search, which simplifies and boosts searching for words located in a text field.
Has the ability of replication that is used to copy the contents of database onto a number of computers.
The database system ensures that either all operations of a transaction is executed properly or nothing is done at all.
It is also a very fast database program, which is proved by a plethora of benchmark tests.

Benefits

MySQL is one of the most secure and reliable relational database management system. It has data security and supports transactional processing, which ensures a reliable system for transactions, especially for eCommerce websites.
Despite being furnished with a host of features, MySQL can be downloaded and installed in less time when compared to other management systems of its kind.
Thanks to the featuring of completely atomic, isolated, consistent, durable and multi-transactional support that makes it top the list of robust transactional database systems.
The system comes furnishes with a backup toll called mysqldump that supports backing up from all storage engines.
It comes with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that offers a more interactive and user-friendly environment as compared to the basic text interface.

Conclusion

Concluding with a final verdict of choosing one over the other is a difficult thing. It is that both the database management systems offer a host of features. As can be deciphered from the above comparison, MySQL has done a great job in furnishing itself with relevant features, thanks to robust community support. On the other hand, PostgreSQL, apart from being open-source, it also doesn’t require any licensing. This means that preferences for the systems are more subjective as per requirements.