libmysql_libmariadb

Differences between MariaDB and MySQL Connector/C

History and License

Even if MariaDB Connector/C and MySQL Connector/C have common roots (namely the version 3.23.51 from the year 2003 which was published under the LGPL), both have some differences.

While MySQL Connector/C (or libmysql) was further developed under the GPL, MariaDB Connector/C was newly developed based on MySQL 3.23.51. Major enhancements, such as the prepared statement API and numerous protocol extensions have been integrated from mysqlnd extension of the PHP project. The first version of MariaDB Connector/C was released in 2012.

In contrast to MySQL Connector/C, MariaDB Connector/C is licensed under the LGPL license and thus can be integrated and used free of charge in almost all (including commercial/closed source) projects.

API

API functions which are supported by both MySQL and MariaDB Connector/C are prefixed with "mysql", MariaDB specific features are prefixed with "mariadb".

Example:

• mysql_real_connect
• mariadb_stmt_execute_direct

No rule without exception: For example, the mysql_optionsv function only exists in MariaDB Connector / C. It was added as an extension of the existing mysql_options function to allow a function call with a variable number of parameters.