mysql (Rust)

The mysql crate is a MySQL database driver implemented in pure Rust, with a built-in connection pool. It speaks both the MySQL text protocol (simple queries) and binary protocol (prepared statements with binary result sets), and requires no external C client library.

It is a mature, feature-rich driver: named parameters for prepared statements, a per-connection statement cache, a buffer pool, protocol compression, large-packet support, Unix sockets and Windows named pipes, pluggable TLS via native-tls or rustls, and auth plugins for both legacy MySQL and MySQL 8’s caching_sha2_password. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

What You Get

• A pure-Rust MySQL driver with no C client dependency
• A built-in connection pool for concurrent workloads
• Text-protocol queries and binary-protocol prepared statements
• Named parameters and a params! macro for prepared statements
• Typed row mapping into Rust structs via FromRow/FromValue
• Pluggable TLS (native-tls or rustls) and MySQL 8 auth plugin support

Common Use Cases

• Connecting Rust web services and backends to MySQL or MariaDB
• Pooling database connections for concurrent request handling
• Running prepared statements with named parameters safely
• Streaming query results directly into typed Rust structs
• Connecting over TLS to managed MySQL 8 databases using caching_sha2_password

Under The Hood

Architecture — The crate implements the MySQL client protocol from scratch in Rust under src/, exposing a Pool of reusable connections plus a Conn type for single connections. It supports both the text protocol (simple query calls) and the binary protocol (prepared statements via prep/exec), with a per-connection statement cache and a buffer pool to cut allocations. Result-set rows are decoded into a Value enum and mapped to Rust types through FromRow/FromValue traits; named parameters are rewritten into positional ones before execution.

Tech Stack — Pure Rust (edition 2021) with no C client dependency. TLS is pluggable via native-tls or rustls behind feature flags, and the crate offers a rich feature matrix (minimal, derive, buffer-pool, compression) so consumers compile only what they need. It supports Unix sockets, Windows named pipes, protocol compression, and large packets, and builds via a build.rs script.

Code Quality — A mature, long-lived driver (version 28) with a dedicated tests/ directory and CI on Azure Pipelines across macOS, Windows, and Linux. Recent development activity is low, consistent with a stable, feature-complete driver rather than one in flux.

API Design — The public API is compact and ergonomic: get a Pool, grab a connection, and call query, exec, or the query_map/exec_map helpers that stream rows into typed structs. Named parameters and the params! macro reduce boilerplate for prepared statements, and thorough docs.rs documentation with inline examples smooth adoption.