What Do You Need?

You'll need the following to work through the examples in this book:

• A copy of, or access to, a MySQL client and server. You can download the current version from the MySQL site: www.mysql.com.

• A system on which to install MySQL (if you don't have access to one already). MySQL can install on your desktop PC, but more often it runs on a dedicated server when it is used in serious applications.

• If you plan to develop applications with MySQL, you may need to download the latest drivers or application programming interfaces (APIs) for your development environment. MySQL integrates best with PHP, Perl, Java, C, C++, and Python, but you can use it in any programming environment, such as .NET via Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). Visit the MySQL website (www.mysql.com) to download current versions of the drivers.