Ruby Mysql2 gem

Uses libmysqlclient for fast data type casting and iteration, significantly outperforming pure Ruby libraries in benchmarks, as shown in the README's performance comparison.

Offers simple classes like Client and Result that abstract away low-level details, making database operations straightforward with options for symbolized keys and array results.

Supports async queries with EventMachine, streaming for large datasets, prepared statements, and encoding handling, catering to advanced use cases outlined in the documentation.

Works out-of-the-box with Rails' Active Record and Sequel, reducing boilerplate code, as evidenced by configuration examples for database.yml and DATABASE_URL.