MariaDB Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-04-29

MariaDB is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) created as a fork of MySQL in 2009 by the original MySQL developers. It remains MySQL-compatible while offering enhanced performance, additional storage engines (InnoDB, ColumnStore, Aria, MyRocks), and modern features like temporal tables, native JSON support, VECTOR search for AI workloads, and a commitment to staying fully open-source under GPL/LGPL. As of 2026, MariaDB 11.8 LTS is the current long-term support release, introducing VECTOR data type and HNSW-based vector indexing. MariaDB is widely adopted by enterprises and powers major platforms including Wikipedia, Google, and Red Hat, making it a leading choice for both OLTP and analytical workloads in cloud-native and on-premises environments.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 33 focused tables and 256 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Data Types — NumericTable 2: Data Types — String and TextTable 3: Data Types — Date and TimeTable 4: Data Types — JSON, Spatial, and ExtendedTable 5: Storage EnginesTable 6: IndexesTable 7: ConstraintsTable 8: Generated and Invisible ColumnsTable 9: JoinsTable 10: SubqueriesTable 11: Set OperationsTable 12: Common Table Expressions (CTEs)Table 13: Window FunctionsTable 14: Aggregate FunctionsTable 15: String FunctionsTable 16: Date and Time FunctionsTable 17: JSON FunctionsTable 18: Transactions and IsolationTable 19: ViewsTable 20: Stored Procedures and FunctionsTable 21: Error Handling in Stored RoutinesTable 22: Dynamic SQL / Prepared StatementsTable 23: TriggersTable 24: Event SchedulerTable 25: PartitioningTable 26: Replication and High AvailabilityTable 27: Performance OptimizationTable 28: Backup and RecoveryTable 29: Security and User ManagementTable 30: System Variables and ConfigurationTable 31: Temporal Tables (System-Versioned)Table 32: Full-Text SearchTable 33: Vector Search (MariaDB 11.7+)

Table 1: Data Types — Numeric

Type	Example	Description
INT	`CREATE TABLE t (id INT)`	• Standard 4-byte signed integer (–2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647) • most commonly used integer type for IDs and counters • unsigned variant extends positive range to 4,294,967,295.
BIGINT	`age BIGINT UNSIGNED`	• 8-byte signed integer for very large numbers (±9 quintillion range) • unsigned variant reaches 18.4 quintillion • preferred for large-scale IDs and analytics.
TINYINT	`status TINYINT(1)`	• 1-byte integer (–128 to 127 or 0 to 255 unsigned) • commonly used for boolean-like flags (0/1) and small enumerations • `TINYINT(1)` is a common boolean substitute.
SMALLINT	`port SMALLINT UNSIGNED`	• 2-byte integer (–32,768 to 32,767 or 0 to 65,535 unsigned) • efficient for medium-range values like network ports and small counts.
MEDIUMINT	`counter MEDIUMINT`	• 3-byte integer (±8 million range) • niche use between SMALLINT and INT for specific storage optimization scenarios.

Table 1: Data Types — Numeric

Type	Example	Description
INT	`CREATE TABLE t (id INT)`	• Standard 4-byte signed integer (–2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647) • most commonly used integer type for IDs and counters • unsigned variant extends positive range to 4,294,967,295.
BIGINT	`age BIGINT UNSIGNED`	• 8-byte signed integer for very large numbers (±9 quintillion range) • unsigned variant reaches 18.4 quintillion • preferred for large-scale IDs and analytics.
TINYINT	`status TINYINT(1)`	• 1-byte integer (–128 to 127 or 0 to 255 unsigned) • commonly used for boolean-like flags (0/1) and small enumerations • `TINYINT(1)` is a common boolean substitute.
SMALLINT	`port SMALLINT UNSIGNED`	• 2-byte integer (–32,768 to 32,767 or 0 to 65,535 unsigned) • efficient for medium-range values like network ports and small counts.
MEDIUMINT	`counter MEDIUMINT`	• 3-byte integer (±8 million range) • niche use between SMALLINT and INT for specific storage optimization scenarios.