Software update: MySQL 5.0.0 alpha

MySQL has again welcomed a new version, version 5.0.0 alpha. The developers have only recently started developing for this MySQL version, but they are working hard on these features, among others: stored procedures, better standard compliance and a number of speed improvements. The full list of features that will eventually come back in MySQL 5.0 is here to find. A complete list of changes will be posted on this page can be found. Below are the main changes since the very first 5.0 release:

Changes in release 5.0.0 (Development)

• Basic support for stored procedures (SQL-99 style).
• Added SELECT INTO list_of_vars, which can be of mixed, that is, global and local type.
• Removed the update log. It is fully replaced by the binary log. If the MySQL server is started with –log-update, it will be translated to –log-bin (or ignored if the server is explicitly started with –log-bin), and a warning message will be written to the error log. Setting SQL_LOG_UPDATE will silently set SQL_LOG_BIN instead (or do nothing if the server is explicitly started with –log-bin).
• User variable names are now case insensitive: if you do SET @a=10; then SELECT @A; will now return 10. Of course, the content of the variable is still case sensitive; only the name of this variable is case insensitive.

Changes in release 5.0.0 (22 Dec 2003: Alpha)

• Added TIMESTAMPADD() and TIMESTAMPDIFF() functions.
• Added WEEK and QUARTER values ​​as INTERVAL arguments for DATE_ADD() and DATE_SUB() functions.
• New binary log format which enables replication of those session variables: SQL_MODE, SQL_AUTO_IS_NULL, FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS (that one was already replicated since 4.0.14 but here it’s done more efficiently: takes less space in the binary logs), UNIQUE_CHECKS. Other variables (like character sets, SQL_SELECT_LIMIT…) will be replicated in next 5.0.x releases.
• Easier replication upgrade (5.0.0 masters can read older binary logs, 5.0.0 slaves can read older relay logs; see section 4.11.5 Upgrading a replication setup – mixing different MySQL versions for more details).

[break]Downloads are available for many systems. The full list is here can be found, below the downloads for Windows, Linux and the source code itself.
Linux (x86, libc6) (23.1MB)
Windows Installer (22.7MB)
Source in tarbal (15.6MB)