2.4 Available MySQL Client Interfaces

MySQL AB provides several application programming interfaces (APIs) for accessing the MySQL server:

• The C client library, libmysqlclient. This API may be used for writing MySQL-based C programs. It's also the basis for all higher-level APIs written for other languages (other than Java).

• MySQL Connector/ODBC provides a MySQL-specific driver for ODBC; it allows ODBC-compliant programs to access MySQL databases.

• MySQL Connector/J is a JDBC driver for use in Java programs; it allows JDBC-compliant programs to access MySQL databases.

In addition to the preceding APIs, each of which is officially supported by MySQL AB, many other client APIs are available. Most of them are based on the C client library and provide a binding for some other language. These include the PHP interface to MySQL, the DBD::mysql driver for the Perl DBI module, and interfaces for other languages such as Python, Ruby, Pascal, and Tcl. Although you can download these client APIs from the MySQL Web site and members of the MySQL AB development team often work closely with the developers of these products, the APIs do not receive official support from MySQL AB. If you're embarking on a project that involves these APIs, you should contact the developers to determine whether future support will be available.