MariaDB 13 Debuts with Enhanced Oracle Compatibility

The MariaDB Foundation has officially released MariaDB Community Server 13.0 as a stable, general availability version. This rolling release focuses heavily on smoothing the transition for enterprise applications migrating away from Oracle. To achieve this, the database engine now features native support for both weak and strong REF CURSOR types, alongside RECORD types, within routine parameters and function return values. These additions allow developers to handle structured row data and manage cursors as local variables or package routine parameters, though global, non-package routines do not yet support them.

Developers also gain more powerful data manipulation capabilities in this version. The UPDATE statement now supports the RETURNING clause, a feature previously restricted to INSERT and DELETE operations. When paired with the OLD_VALUE function, this allows engineers to retrieve both the original and modified values of a row in a single database round trip, though this is currently limited to single-table queries. Additionally, MariaDB 13 refines the query optimizer hint framework introduced in version 12. The system now automatically names query blocks for Views, Common Table Expressions (CTEs), and derived tables, while new QB_NAME locators help target deeply nested query blocks without manual naming.

For database administrators, the update enhances observability and configuration tracking. The replication role startup option, init_rpl_role, is now a system variable queryable via SHOW VARIABLES or @@init_rpl_role. Furthermore, the I_S.STATISTICS and I_S.COLUMNS tables now include a CREATE_OPTIONS column to expose storage-engine-specific settings programmatically, and the I_S.SYSTEM_VARIABLES table now explicitly flags deprecated variables. Because MariaDB operates on a rolling release schedule to deliver features rapidly, teams seeking a long-term support version will need to wait for the upcoming MariaDB 13.3 release.