The problem with SQL in general is that there are so many different implementations that it's difficult to remember which one you're currently working with. Last semester I was working on a MSSQL statement and I started doing a MySQL join and it resulted in a 20% deduction because it didn't work correctly....

True that, even basic ANSI SQL gets distorted somewhat across the different databases.

Having worked extensively with both MySQL and MSSQL, I can say with certainty that I vastly prefer MSSQL. MySQL is fine for what I would call "toy" projects, but when you start trying to do larger, more complex projects, MySQL pretty quickly becomes a bottleneck to deal with the workarounds to get things working the way you want.

I also am not trying to be a MS-phile either. Oracle is also much more powerful and flexible than MySQL, and I've used it as well. Personally, I've found MSSQL to be just about as powerful for most things and a lot simpler to learn and use. But the difference between Oracle and MSSQL is almost more a matter of taste than functionality, unlike the difference between those two and MySQL.

I will say, though, that my experience with MySQL is several years old at this point and I know that it now has things like transactions, etc. But I strongly suspect that it's still a matter of you get what you pay for, and MySQL is...free.

Oh, and don't get me wrong here, either. MySQL IS very useful for many smaller applications, in my experience and it's probably the best free database out there. It's all a matter of what you need.

OK, done ranting now =)

yey GDNet+!!

*goes away again*