Top 3 Reasons Why I Like SQLyog

Technology circles have a tendency to produce heated, fanatical debates over which software, hardware, design philosophy, etc. is the best. While debate is good, more often than not, those types of debates become more a clash of differing ideologies rather than a civil discussion on the merits of the various options that are available.

There seems to be little value to such discussions and my general philosophy is that no single vendor/design philosophy/technology is the best solution to all problems. One should use the best tool for the task at hand. Sometimes that means using open source solutions like Linux or phpMyAdmin, while on other occasions, it might mean using C# or other Microsoft technology.

That being said, below are the top three reasons why I prefer SQLyog for MySQL administration. Please do not read this as an article on the reasons why SQLyog is better than phpMyAdmin, Navicat or other similar tools. The best solution for you will be determined by your specific needs, not mine.

1. Performance

Performing database operations within SQLyog is usually a matter of 1 or 2 clicks and being a desktop application, refreshes are almost instantaneous. In addition, the multi-pane and tabbed interface makes it easy to view different bits of data without having to navigate to an entirely different area within the application. For example, results for a query are displayed directly below it. If one wishes to modify the query, it is a simple matter of editing the query, below is an image depicting the SQLyog interface:

2. Data Transfer

Ever have a need to move data from one MySQL server to another? SQLyog makes it a cinch.

Built-in functionality allows one to connect to establish silmutaneous connections to multiple MySQL servers and then move databases between them. One can also make a copy of a database within the same server. It is a very simple process, requiring minimal input, as illustrated below:

3. Export options

Often times, it is necessary to export data to other formats for additional analysis, backup or other purposes. SQLyog's export capabilities simplify this process tremendously and offer multiple file formats including HTML, XML and SQL.

Below is a view of the simple, one window interface for exporting data:

By no means is the above a comprehensive list of features found in SQLyog (Community Edition), but they do represent a sampling of features that make it a very useful tool. It should also be noted that the vendor, Webyog, offers an Enterprise level version of SQLyog which includes additional features.