Textbook in PDF format If you9re contemplating whether to devote some time to this book, read this: MariaDB Server is a general-purpose, open source, relational database management system, optimised for performance and easy usabiility; it has its roots in MySQL Server, and is an alternative to Postgres, Oracle Database and other relational and NoSQL databases This book is the full documentation on MariaDB Server, a <Reference Manual Plus= which includes aspects of a User9s Guide; it is based on the contents of the MariaDB Knowledge base (https://mariadb.com/kb/ ), an open, community-edited site contributed to since the inception of MariaDB in 2009 This edition is not specific to any version of MariaDB Server, but includes functionality up to the latest version of MariaDB at the time of generation This preface describes the goals, structure and contents of the documentation. Reading it is intended as a helpful step in understanding how to best use the manual to improve productivity in using MariaDB Server