"Why can't I just save my data to a file?" Using an MySQL database seems so complex to get right, and for good reason. The variety of data-driven applications is practically limitless, and as project requirements change, we find ourselves taking short-cuts and adopting bad habits. But there are proven methods to understanding how to develop and manage data in a scalable and reliable way.

This talk shows you some of these methods, including:

• How to optimize a MySQL database application with partitioning and sharding
• How to avoid the secret security vulnerability that you're probably guilty of
• How to use optimizer hints effectively