MariaDB Connectors

• Q: What are MariaDB Connectors and their purpose? A: MariaDB Connectors are a collection of software drivers, libraries, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). They are essential for enabling applications developed in various programming languages to establish connections, communicate, and interact seamlessly with MariaDB Server instances (both MariaDB Community Server and MariaDB Enterprise Server).

• Q: Which programming languages have official MariaDB Connector support? A: MariaDB provides official, well-maintained connectors for a wide array of popular programming languages. These include Java (via JDBC Connector/J), C (via Connector/C), C++, Python (via Connector/Python), Node.js (via Connector/Node.js), and ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) for generic database access from various applications and tools. Additionally, the MariaDB community often develops and supports connectors for other languages.

• Q: Are the official MariaDB Connectors open source? A: Yes, the official MariaDB Connectors provided and maintained by MariaDB are typically open source. They are often licensed under permissive licenses like the LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License), which allows them to be linked with and used by both open-source and proprietary (closed-source) applications.

• Q: What are the benefits of using official MariaDB Connectors over generic ones? A: Using the official MariaDB Connectors ensures optimal compatibility, better performance, and direct access to the latest features and functionalities specific to MariaDB Server. These connectors are developed and rigorously tested by MariaDB engineers and often provide superior support for MariaDB-specific syntax, data types, and operational characteristics compared to generic database drivers or connectors designed solely for MySQL.

• Q: Where can developers download official MariaDB Connectors? A: Official MariaDB Connectors can be downloaded directly from the MariaDB website (both mariadb.com for enterprise versions and mariadb.org for community versions). They are also frequently distributed through standard package managers and repositories specific to programming languages, such as PyPI (Python Package Index) for the Python connector and Maven Central for the Java (JDBC) connector.