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Asked: 2026-05-20T21:30:58+00:00

I used to work with the mysql gem, but often nowadays I hear about

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I used to work with the mysql gem, but often nowadays I hear about the mysql2 gem. Also, it is included in the Gemfile by default in Rails 3.0.x.

What is the difference and advantages of using the mysql2 gem?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Here’s a quote from the mysql2 gem page:

    Yeah… but why?

    Someone: Dude, the Mysql gem works
    fiiiiiine.

    Me: It sure does, but it only hands
    you nil and strings for field values.
    Leaving you to convert them into
    proper Ruby types in Ruby-land – which
    is slow as balls.

    Someone: OK fine, but do_mysql can
    already give me back values with Ruby
    objects mapped to MySQL types.

    Me: Yep, but its API is considerably
    more complex and can be ~2x slower.

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