Storage engines, query optimization, indexing, and production operations for the world's most-deployed open source database. Including what happens when you delete the whole thing.
A PHP API case study: fixing an N+1 query, twenty serial cURL calls, missing connection pooling, and stats recalculated on every request with Redis caching.
Four major open source databases are hitting end-of-life milestones in 2026, and MySQL 8.0 has already crossed that line. Here's a practical, code-first look at how to audit what you're running, back it up properly, and migrate before the risk compounds.
I use AI as a tool. I'll say that upfront. Claude helps me write frontends faster. It handles search queries that Google stopped being useful for
MariaDB vs MySQL in 2026 — what the Oracle acquisition changed, what MariaDB has been quietly building, and whether the fork is now the better choice.
In 2008, attackers used SQL injection to breach Heartland Payment Systems, a payment processing company. They stole 130 million credit and debit card numbers. The breach cost Heartland
MySQL runs WordPress, which runs 43% of the web. It runs Facebook's original backend, YouTube, and GitHub. It is also a database with genuine quirks that bite people who do not know about them. Here is the full picture.
A database is organized data with a system for storing, retrieving, and modifying it reliably. Every application you have ever used depends on one. Here is how they actually work, what the different types do, and what separates a well-designed schema from one that will wreck you at scale.
