MySQL is well-known as an easy-to-use, easy-to-set-up, and easy-to-run SQL database. It has a long history, having had its 20th birthday a few months ago, and has enjoyed widespread popularity as the go-to option for SQL databases, also being included in the XAMPP/LAMP stacks.
However, MySQL has its drawbacks, some of which I will cover here. This post is written from the perspective of someone working with MySQL 5.6, although I will acknowledge the changes made in 5.7.
NOTE: I decided this post was too snarky and didn't contain enough detail, so I've updated it as of December 2015.