TL;DR: I’m writing a new book on MariaDB for developers, and it will be available in the next few months. See mariadbfordevelopers.com for more information.

During the last few months I have been working on a secret project—a new book for software developers interested in learning MariaDB.

I made the decision to write this book because I see a lack of up-to-date structured learning material on MariaDB from a developer’s perspective. Most books out there teach MariaDB with a focus on DBA-oriented activities. These are excellent books required if you want to take MariaDB to production. I particularly enjoyed reading “Getting Started with MariaDB” (Daniel Bartholomew, Packt, 2015) and “Learning MySQL and MariaDB” (O’Reilly, 2015).

However, not many of the currently available books focus on developer-oriented activities such as understanding indexing, transaction management, database connectivity from programming languages such as Java, Python, or JavaScript (with Node.js), and even setting up a development environment with something better for coding tasks than the mariadb command-line tool (most developers prefer an advanced editor for writing code, including SQL code).

I’m convinced that most of these books, besides being extremely useful and well-written, are authored by DBAs mostly. I saw the need for a book written for developers by a developer.

I have been actively using MariaDB since 2015 when I joined Vaadin as a software engineer. There, I was part of a team that developed a dental health-care business management system on top of MariaDB. Later in 2021, I joined MariaDB plc and these years have taught me more than I could have ever imagined about relational databases. It’s evident to me that many developers around the world want to use MariaDB in their projects, and they need a book that takes a different approach to teaching than DBA-focused tutorials, courses, books, and official documentation.

With all these things in mind and using my previous experience (I have published 3 other books), I got the motivation to gather information, take notes, and write a new book which I have titled “MariaDB for Developers: Crafting Data-Centring Applications” to be published in 2024.

The book is for programmers who want to integrate MariaDB into their applications. This includes both professionals already familiar with MariaDB, and those new to MariaDB transitioning from other SQL or NoSQL databases. The book is also relevant for Computer Science students and academics seeking practical hands-on knowledge from industry experts in data-centric application development. It focuses on SQL and is easier to read and follow than the official documentation.

Some of the topics that the book covers are:

• The history of MariaDB
• Setting Up MariaDB for Development
• The MariaDB Command Line Interface
• Fundamental SQL Concepts
• Advanced SQL Concepts
• Indexes
• Stored Procedures and Functions
• Triggers and Event-Driven Data Manipulation
• Transaction Management and Concurrency
• Security Practices
• Connecting from Java, Python, and Node.js
• Moving to Production

Since I’m still working on the draft, there’s space for feedback on the contents. Let me know in the comments section of this page if you have any suggestions. They are always welcomed.

I have created a website for the book. I plan to update it as the project advances:

➡️ mariadbfordevelopers.com

I will share some of the chapters for free and will do my best to make the book available for purchase in digital and printed copies in as many countries as possible. I will launch a pre-sale campaign with a generous discount, so make sure to visit the website and use the notification form to get an alert once the book becomes available.

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