Re: PostgreSQL full text vs. MySQL

Skip Evans wrote:
> I am wondering if I could get some opinions on PostgreSQL's full text
> versus MySQL's and specifically I have not been able to find
> documentation that MySQL supports lexeme type full text, able to locate
> root words the way PostgreSQL 8.3 does.

MySQL's full-text search is:
1. Isam-based only (afaik), so no transactions for you.
2. Much simpler than PostgreSQL's full-text searching

Whether #2 is good/bad depends if you want simple or flexible. If you're
starting to think about stemming or custom requirements already, I think
you're probably ruling out MySQL anyway. From my (admittedly limited)
knowledge of MySQL fti, you're able to replace the standard list of
stopwords and set a minimum number of letters to count as a word and
that's about it.

The PostgreSQL system lets you chain dictionaries together, have
multiple dictionaries per configuration or write a custom parser if
really required. Complicated, but flexible.

--
Richard Huxton
Archonet Ltd