Colin Charles Agenda

Recently there was a discussion on the webscalesql mailing list started by Chip Turner on a proposed change to the MAX_STATEMENT_TIME patch. This feature has been known as per query variable settings (WL#681) and even shipping in Percona Server 5.6 as per-query variable statement.

This feature has piqued my interest since 2009, when the MySQL project (then owned by Sun Microsystems) participated in Google Summer of Code 2009, and we got code from Joseph Lukas to do just that (see his tree on Launchpad – lp:~jlukas79/+junk/mysql-server).

So code has been floating around since 2009. It never made it into a shipping release of any MySQL-based distribution till 24 October 2013 when Percona Server 5.6.14-62.0 was released. Percona’s syntax implementation was as suggested in WL#681. This got me curious as to if a feature is already shipping in a distribution of MySQL, what is the WebScaleSQL answer to things – is there a look at other branches or is compatibility from a user/DBA perspective only with focus on upstream?

I got my answer from Steaphan Greene. Very sensible, and a great direction to see how the companies involved can influence upstream MySQL and quite obviously the downstream distributions. It is of course great to note that this syntax improvement will probably be in MySQL 5.7.5 DMR (it already is in 5.7.4 DMR).

For what it’s worth, this feature works well alongside server-side statement timeouts, which Percona Server 5.6 implements (as an alpha quality feature) via the Twitter patch of Davi Arnaut. The MySQL team at Oracle has of course been listening, and in MySQL 5.7.4 DMR (release notes) they too have implemented this feature (WL#6936). Kudos!

Update (6 May 2014): Morgan Tocker has opened up mysql#72540.

We had 12 projects, and by the time we’ve hit mid-terms, we’ve decided to cull 2 project so far, leaving us with 10 projects.

This year, the MySQL project can really divide itself into three groups – those hacking on MySQL, Drizzle, or phpMyAdmin. Next year, will we see others? I certainly hope so…

Drizzle – Padraig O’Sullivan is doing an excellent job at working on a new implementation of the INFORMATION_SCHEMA. Nathan Williams is doing great work at code cleanup for Drizzle, and making it conform to C++ standards. Jiangfeng Peng is hacking on batch nested loop join’s in Drizzle.

phpMyAdmin – Derek Schaefer is adding import improvements to phpMyAdmin, while Tomas Srnka is working on adding MySQL Replication support for phpMyAdmin (and impressing his mentor!). Zahra Naeem is working on change tracking of data/structures, and you’d expect some more work after the mid-term, once some problems are worked through.

MySQL – Joseph Lukas is working on new commands to allow the changing of session variables temporarily as needed in a query. Haihao Tang is working on WL#4034, which is focused around the I_S storage engine. Tulay Meuzzinoglu is working on an SQL optimiser for mod_ndb, and there’s a lot of good stuff already going into the codebase, as is.

Common problems? Timezones and language barriers. How do other open source projects deal with this?

Much thanks to all the mentors who are doing a great job! If you want to keep track, either watch the individual Launchpad accounts, or check out the summer of code list for weekly progress reports

You know, amongst all the announcements this week, I should also mention that MySQL has been accepted into the Google Summer of Code 2009, and all our students are ready to rock and roll. Its the community bonding period now, and we have a bunch more mentors that will participate, its very exciting. Check out the student list for MySQL. Yes, lots of phpMyAdmin and Drizzle stuff too. They’re all part of the extended community, no?

I was a little worried last week with regards to our Google Summer of Code status, but I’m glad to see that MySQL has been accepted, for a third year running, for the Google Summer of Code 2009.

Mentors & students alike, check out the ideas page. You as a student can even submit ideas, and we’ll look for a mentor for you, naturally.

Things we’re looking for:

• Simple bug fixes
• Improvements in documentation of code
• Test suite improvements
• New features, but simple enough to implement in timeframe
• Pet projects
• Extending tools, creating new tools that support MySQL
• Wider ecosystem that is MySQL – this means I’m looking at you, Drizzle, even

Again, if you have any queries, drop me a line via email, as I’m the Program Administrator again :)

After checking with the relevant parties, MySQL has just submitted an application for the Google Summer of Code 2009. We’ve successfully participated in SoC during 2007, and 2008, and we’re hoping to get another shot at SoC, for our third year running.

What is Summer of Code? It means different things to many different people. If you’re a student, it means you get to hack on MySQL and the related products, and churn out code, that over eleven million people use, while you sit on the beach in your bathers! And when successful, you get a nice wad of cash even!

If you’re a mentor, it means having someone to help you write features, you’ve been wanting — someone to spend a good fourty-hours per week, hacking on the feature you most want (and its do-able within 12 weeks or so). As usual, mentors, we have an ideas page up. Mentors, go forth and fill it up.

Students, should also feel free to discuss their ideas, either on the wiki, or via the mailing list. You don’t need to apply yet (in fact, you can’t till we get accepted into the program to begin with!).

Remember, this is the year to Make MySQL Contributor Friendly (MMCF). Check the interview with Masood Mortazavi for more. So much potential for server contributions abound.

If you have any other queries, please don’t hesitate to drop me a comment, or an email at colin@mysql.com. Now, on toward happy hacking!

MySQL is featured on the Google Open Source Blog
Just after leaving JavaOne, Leslie pinged me on IRC to inform me that the MySQL project was featured on the Google Open Source blog. Go on, read Moments of Inspiration.

In other news from mentors, Colin Charles, former mentor and 2008 organization administrator for MySQL dropped a note to let us know that their Community Bonding period is moving along swimmingly. So well, in fact, that their students are already delivering weekly status reports. Colin mentioned that their student Filippo Bollini had crafted a particularly well written update; it’s worth checking out for mentors wondering what sorts of information to collect from students or for students wondering what kind of details are most useful to their mentors.

Congratulations Filippo. I expect great things from you (as does Brian.)

Start your engines!
Students, and mentors alike, this is the week that the Summer of Code starts! Well, coding anyway. Its very encouraging to see all the weekly reports flow in, and once I catch a breath, I’ll be summarising them for all to see and keep up with how the MySQL SoC students of 2008 are doing.