There is no denying that MySQL has a huge amount of momentum behind it. 10+ years as the leading free SQL database kinda does that. It has successfully changed the perception of databases - where people used to visualise big-iron mainframes in specially cooled rooms to where anyone can install it for free within 15 minutes.That is not what this blog post is about. The topic of today is the "Save

This blog post was inspired by Masood Mortazavi's comment: "OSCon to be somewhat disappointing this year -- many low quality sessions and a celebration of forks"I did not attend OSCON, even though I live in California. I did not even bother to submit a presentation proposal, even though people who attended my talks at the MySQL Conference and Expo earlier this year and the year before, all

Wouldn't it be fun to be able to embed web-service routines into MySQL as if they are stored procedures?

CREATE FUNCTION xml_current_time() RETURNS DATETIME NO SQL
        LANGUAGE XMLRPC
        EXTERNAL NAME "xmlrpc://time.userland.com/RPC2;currentTime.getCurrentTime";

Perhaps not a completely useful example... but an interesting goal to achieve. I have written up some code and pushed it to the experimental repository. I haven't tested it yet but I may do later today if I don't get too preoccupied catching up watching NBC's "Heroes". Snapshots created automagically at midnight, Pacific time.

Okay... I had originally stated that I would not publish my wish-list but since Jay Pipes has said that he was collating these ideas, I'll play along hoping that there is a positive influence on the future of MySQL. Here are my five, plus a few extra.... (out of list of many others)

1. Modular Architecture
   
   I know that many people have put this on their wish list and I am sure that many people would probably blame me for some of the current architecture woes. Honestly, I have an excuse: I am trying to evolve the plug-in system into something more usable. As Eric Herman can testify, we actually had an alternative plug-in architecture under development as a small skunk works project, which in my opinion was superior than what we have today but we permanently shelved it after the current plug-in system appeared in the tree.
   
   A good modular architecture would allow parts to be …

It seems that its very popular right now for people to say what their top 5 or 10 wishes are for MySQL Server. Many people who have chatted with me are well aware of a small collection of mine. Guess what? I have no plans to iterate through them here.
I personally don't believe it is particularly productive. MySQL is a company with a lot of smart people and almost every one of them will have their own distinct and unique wish list. For a few to have their wishes set above the rest could drive a wedge in the works. Of course, a small number of senior officers of the company to broadcast their opinions (Mårten, Monty, etc) is perfectly reasonable - they are expected to have a public vision - wether it be purely their own or distilled from the collective of the company. So where should we espouse our heart felt opinions? The WorkLog RawIdeas acts as a voracious black hole from which few ideas ever escape to fruition. Perhaps the internal Wiki …