What is the difference between MyISAM and InnoDB

MyISAM and InnoDB are two of the most widely used storage engines in MySQL. They differ in various aspects, including transaction support, locking mechanisms, and foreign key constraints.

Key Differences

  • Transaction Support: InnoDB supports ACID transactions, which ensures data integrity. MyISAM does not support transactions.
  • Table Locking: MyISAM uses table-level locking, which can lead to performance issues in multi-user environments. InnoDB uses row-level locking, allowing for greater concurrency.
  • Foreign Key Constraints: InnoDB supports foreign key constraints, which help maintain referential integrity. MyISAM does not.
  • Crash Recovery: InnoDB provides automatic crash recovery, while MyISAM may require manual intervention.

Example Usage

<?php // Create a MyISAM table $mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE myisam_table ( id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100) ) ENGINE=MyISAM"); // Create an InnoDB table $mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE innodb_table ( id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100), FOREIGN KEY (id) REFERENCES myisam_table(id) ) ENGINE=InnoDB"); ?>

MyISAM InnoDB MySQL storage engines transaction support table locking foreign key constraints