Let's just say that not using it will cause more trouble than it's worth, and that if the option should eventually disappear or change it shouldn't be much work to change your code to adapt. Database drivers don't update themselves; just check when you install a new version.

You should assume that all code using utf-8 with DBD::mysql on current versions will work better when that option is used. I'm using it in a couple of fairly large systems and the only real issue I've had is that it's not complete - you still have to make sure data specified for UTF-8 columns is really utf-8 before sending queries.

Since 4.004 using the option will as far as I know at least guarantee you'll get your data back with correct status for the utf-8 marker of each column, for every type of column. Nothing else will give you that guarantee.

"What should it profit a man, if he should win a flame war, yet lose his cool?"

In reply to Re^3: mysql_auto_reconnect and utf8 by Joost
in thread mysql_auto_reconnect and utf8 by Neid

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.