How do I install and use MySQLdb for Python 3 on Windows 10?
Question: My various searches seem to come up with very old posts or a mention of how to
do this under cygwin. I had python 3.5 installed and then installed Anaconda3.
I have python 3.5 (Cpython) installed in my user directory. I tried changing
the order of how things appear in my Windows Environment Variables path, so
that I could try both the Anaconda version of Python and the other version of
python that I have.

Currently, I am a bit confused as to the package name that I should use. Is it
python-mysqldb, or MySQLdb, or mysqldb, mysqlclient. I believe that when I had
Anaconda3 in my global path (and the other version of python in my user path),
I was able to install mysqlclient.

Initially, I am just trying to follow a tutorial from a training site that
covers databases and uses peewee.

So, can the mysql driver for peewee be installed for python3? Or on Windows
specifically?

It is easy enough to use sqlite3, one doesn't use that in production, is that
right?

Can someone help me? Provide some guidance?  
Also, one source of confusion is when other forms of installation of a python
package are listed in the google results (many point to stack overflow), such
as using easy_install, or cloning something from git. When I see instructions
that are from 2010 and they reference easy_install, I had been thinking that
now we can just use pip instead? Also, sometimes I see use of the conda
command. Does that work the same as pip?

Thanks in advance, Bruce


Answer: You could use pymysql. "The goal of PyMySQL is to be a drop-in replacement for
MySQLdb". Check the docs [here](https://github.com/PyMySQL/PyMySQL). Install
the following libraries

> pip install mysqlclient pymysql

Once these libraries are installed, just add the lines in the `manage.py` file
in your project and use the database settings for mysql.

> import pymysql
>
> pymysql.install_as_MySQLdb()

Now any files that `import MySQLdb` will work.

