The open-source MySQL database began life as a lightweight alternative to big, resource-hungry database management systems, such as Oracle or Sybase. Over the years, however, users have clamored for more and more features, causing MySQL ’s codebase to swell with capabilities that had previously only been found on its commercial cousins.

The Drizzle project, announced on Wednesday by MySQL director of architecture Brian Aker, attempts to re-invent MySQL using a micro-kernel architecture. Superfluous features will be stripped out of the database core and moved into modules, allowing users to load them or leave them as desired. Among the features marked for modularization include triggers, views, stored procedures, access control lists, and some data types.

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