Tuesday, June 26, 2007

MySQL Proxy - An excellent excuse to learn a new language

If you are as curious as I am about technology, you would have been intrigued when the MySQL proxy entered the radar. So I followed this promising jewel from its first inception as source only (and for internal distribution) until its release with a full series of binaries.

The recent announcement has made it official. MySQL Proxy is a full fledged supported product, and it's ready to use.
You just have to get the binaries and use it.
If you feel like experimenting (and there is no reason to get the proxy if you aren't) you can have a look at the sample lua scripts available on the Forge and play with them. You may notice that there is one snippet that I created. If you are thinking of calling me for lua lessons, think again. When I wrote that example, my entire production with lua amounted to three scripts, and the total length of my lua experience could be measured in hours.
Having used at least a dozen languages (including the usual suspects Pascal, C, C++, and Perl, but also things like Sather), a new scripting language does not scare me. I believe that I am going to see more of this lua, and I believe that lots of MySQL users are going to become proficient lua speakers in the near future.
Good job, Jan!

Users, give the proxy a try. And if you can't figure out what to do with it, stay tuned. I have a couple of article on this subject, and not only about this proxy, coming soon.

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