Information About MySQL Software and Environments

The frequency with which MySQL AB releases new versions and products can be overwhelming. This book uses products from both the 4.1 series (versions 4.1.7 through 4.1.10), along with newer versions, from 5.0 through 5.0.3. When applicable, the performance-specific features of the 5.1 release are discussed. This book also highlights some of the excellent new graphical products, such as the MySQL Administrator and MySQL Query Browser.

MySQL's open source architecture means that the product runs on a tremendous variety of hardware and operating system environments. However, aside from the sections in which operating system tuning in a MySQL environment is discussed, this book always strives to make the examples as platform-independent as possible.