It just dawned on me as this topic was mentioned in a MySQL Conference presentation yesterday in a manual process. So my thought is, why can’t the following functionality be added to the MySQL server.

My request for two new extensions to the SHOW STATUS command.

SAVE STATUS - This enables the current SHOW STATUS to be saved (or more specifically cached), you can only keep one copy per server instance.

DIFF STATUS - This shows the difference between the current SHOW STATUS and the last saved show status from the SAVE STATUS command.

This would quickly, easily and interactively via a mysql prompt enable a DBA to see the state of change in a more condensed form. The syntax may need to cater for Session/Global scope, and of course would need to be appropiately named, my examples is just an idea.

Of course you can write an easy script that does the same, …

I’ve just attended Scott Ambler’s presentation on Agile Database Techniques: Data Doesn?t Have to be a Four-Letter Word Anymore at the MySQL Users Conference.

There is so much content on the topic, it’s impossible to present so much information in a short 45 minute session. I can speak with authority in regards to the same problem of condensing so much content given this issue with my own presentation MySQL for Oracle Developers.

I ask this question. Why is common sense considered such a radical approach? I state this because Agile Methodology approaches in so many ways are common sense, but …

Second session of Tuesday morning at the MySQL UC is Johan Andersson's talk NBD API: Using MySQL CLuster's Hidden Magic. Sitting with Mikael (Ronstrom), one of the original cluster developers who came over to MySQL from Ericsson and is noting some additional details about this stuff (as noted in parens).

The NDBAPI is a transactional native C++ API to access cluster data nodes. Be aware, there is no (or very little) support for this on the forums.

(from Mikael) Using the API gives you monumentally better preformance than going through the MySQL server (which is also built on this API). Mikael can get over 110,000 reads/second on his lone development box running both the storage nodes on the same box (a Dual core 2.8 GHz machine with 2G RAM).

What does it give you?

• Direct access to data with minimum overhead
• flixibility
• speed
• synchronous and asynchronous modes …

Apologies to anyone following the MySQL UC who thinks a session writeup should only be posted once the session is complete. I've been posting at midpoints throughout the session as things unfold. This sometimes means that there are unfinished thoughts, but they eventually get corrected.

Perhaps it's the paranoid in me that wants to save and save often (and is too lazy to use the "Draft" option), or I have some delusion that if I post at midpoints throughout the session that someone somewhere is following the action as it unfolds and finds that this JIT session coverage helps satisfy their craving for the latest news from the conference.

(Or maybe it's just that I want to be first)

I am sitting in Rasmus Lerdorf's session "A Look at New and Cool Things in the World of PHP". Rasmus is the creator of PHP and works for Yahoo!. He just arrived from Croatia and will be leaving Santa Clara one hour after this session ends.

The session is very informative as I haven't been playing with PHP5 ever since my migration to Ruby on Rails. A lot of exciting developments and changes have been made to PHP. If you are using a PHP application and still running PHP4, you really need to upgrade as soon as possible.

Rasmus says he hates SOAP and isn't going to talk about them a lot. He prefers REST based services.

The top search on Yahoo! was Wikipedia.

Yahoo! has released some new libraries for presenting images with Javascripts.

See the image presentation he created using Yahoo! search at …

Was just introduced in the keynote and looks kinda cool. It isn't packaged in Ubuntu yet, which is a shame...

Tags for this post: mysql() conference() mysqluc2006()

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I just came out of a keynote session by Greg Gianforte, CEO of RightNow Technologies about "Bootstrapping: Starting an Open Source Business with Almost No Money!"

My raw notes (more to come)

1. call lots of people and talk about the issues to them
2. fax or email your idea to 300 people and talk to them
3. build a prototype and personally start selling. [first start selling yourself]
4. after finding a prospect: sell
5. advertising budget is already committed.
6. D&B is asking for company info and detailed financial data. Respectfully refuse.
7. just starting out and not an office that can acommodate
8 how many people in the business if working alone? 5 people (accountant, spouse etc.


…

First session of Tuesday morning at the MySQL Users Conference (2006) is Mike Hillyer and Arjen Lenz presenting An Introduction to Database Normalization and Joins.

Not a new subject for me, but I've heard good things about this presentation (has been given at a number of conferences) so want to see what it's about.

What is the overall idea with database normalization?

• 
  
• cure "spreadsheet syndrome"
  
• store minimal info
  
• remove redundancies
  
• remove anomalies (accidental differences because data is entered multiple times)
  
• restructure data
  

Presentation will cover the first three forms of normalization. Mike shows an example of a book table with lots of data piled up into single column rows.

First Normal Form

• all …

Today’s first session — “The Java Advantage in MySQL” by Philip Antoniades. I’ve seen Philip speak before (at the Boston MySQL Users Group) so I knew it was going to be good.

Enterprise level Java
Connector/J
Bulk of the code in Connector/J code is that it’s tested and works with most major application servers.
Pure Java
SSL

Entirely in-house code base (java/mysql)
open source, gpl
created by Mark Matthews
need java 1.4 to compile
small footprint driver

can set up config to cache prepared statements.

Profiling tools for developers:
Time executions
Time prepared statements
log prepare vs. execute occurrences (are you executing more than preparing?)

Debugging tools for developers:
Logging — StandardLogger …

The first conference day has started and I have uploaded a couple of photos.

The conference center entrance:

The opening session: