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Application development overview for Azure Database for MySQL

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APPLIES TO: Azure Database for MySQL - Single Server

Important

Azure Database for MySQL single server is on the retirement path. We strongly recommend that you upgrade to Azure Database for MySQL flexible server. For more information about migrating to Azure Database for MySQL flexible server, see What's happening to Azure Database for MySQL Single Server?

This article discusses design considerations that a developer should follow when writing application code to connect to Azure Database for MySQL.

Tip

For a tutorial showing you how to create a server, create a server-based firewall, view server properties, create database, and connect and query by using workbench and mysql.exe, see Design your first Azure Database for MySQL database

Language and platform

There are code samples available for various programming languages and platforms. You can find links to the code samples at: Connectivity libraries used to connect to Azure Database for MySQL

Tools

Azure Database for MySQL uses the MySQL community version, compatible with MySQL common management tools such as Workbench or MySQL utilities such as mysql.exe, phpMyAdmin, Navicat, dbForge Studio for MySQL and others. You can also use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, and REST APIs to interact with the database service.

Resource limitations

Azure Database for MySQL manages the resources available to a server by using two different mechanisms:

  • Resources Governance.
  • Enforcement of Limits.

Security

Azure Database for MySQL provides resources for limiting access, protecting data, configuring users and roles, and monitoring activities on a MySQL database.

Authentication

Azure Database for MySQL supports server authentication of users and logins.

Resiliency

When a transient error occurs while connecting to a MySQL database, your code should retry the call. We recommend that the retry logic use back off logic so that it does not overwhelm the SQL database with multiple clients retrying simultaneously.

Managing connections

Database connections are a limited resource, so we recommend sensible use of connections when accessing your MySQL database to achieve better performance.

  • Access the database by using connection pooling or persistent connections.
  • Access the database by using short connection life span.
  • Use retry logic in your application at the point of the connection attempt to catch failures resulting from concurrent connections have reached the maximum allowed. In the retry logic, set a short delay, and then wait for a random time before the additional connection attempts.