What Is This?
The MySQL-ODBC SDK enables you to make MySQL specific applications database independent via ODBC without wholesale re-writes of your MySQL specific application code. Thus, applications that are written directly to the MySQL Call Level Interface now end up being database independent via ODBC, and usable against any ODBC accessible database (including MySQL).
Why Is It Important?
The Open-Source community is rapidly producing innovative applications and in many cases these applications sit atop relational database management systems. Traditionally and historically, the tendency has been to look to MySQL as the default relational database service for Open Source Applications (the "M" in LAMP) which is unfortunately retrogressive since the concept of database independence has long been addressed industry wide via APIs such as ODBC, JDBC, OLE DB, and more recently ADO.NET.
In some case the existence of these APIs has been unknown to Open Source developers prior to application development, and in other cases the complexity of a port from the MySQL API to ODBC ends up being too difficult. There are numerous reasons why you can't mandate MySQL or any other database engine for that matter to every potential user of an Open Source database centric application:
- Compromises freedom of choice ("Freedom of Choice" is a central theme of the Open Source movement and concept)
- Database vendor lock-in reduces the deployment scope of your application, and it also potentially impedes functionality growth (what happens when the underlying database lacks the functionality that you desire? And cannot or will not deliver an implementation within your time-frame?)
- Cost-Effectiveness is an Open Source value proposition main stay, so asking potential users to acquire yet another database (the real costs aren't $0.00 as resources will be required for administration, installation, configuration etc.) when functional ODBC accessible relational databases exist in house is simply contradictory at the very least.
ODBC as a concept has always been designed to be database-independent; iODBC as an Open Source project was devised to ensure platform neutrality for ODBC (just as Mono is pursuing the same goals re. .NET). When you write an application using the ODBC API database interchangeablity becomes a reality (the worst thing that can happen to you is a dysfunctional driver which is replaceable). Read on..