Microsoft SQL Server vs. MySQL: Differences While the two platforms are similar in the interface and basic relational database standards, they are two very different programs and operate differently.

The differences in processing efficiency between MySQL’s three character storage types should not have a big impact on processing times unless your data sets are extremely large.

Since MariaDB is a fork from MySQL, the syntax is similar, but MariaDB has several additional features. Basic SQL syntax remains the same, but MariaDB handles data storage and functions differently.