SANTA CRUZ, USA: Microsoft SQL Server is the most used database in the emerging markets of China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, according to a new survey of over 400 developers from Evans Data Corp shows, but MySQL is closing that lead. 

Over 50 percent of developers in the emerging market countries claim to be using Microsoft's version of SQL Server, but 46 percent use MySQL. MySQL is slightly stronger in India and Latin America, but MS SQL Server leads in China and Latin America.

"Even in this economic downturn the emerging markets represent a significant opportunity for ISV's as we see developer population growth being more than double that of the rest of world," said John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data.

"However, the approach to these markets has to be tailored given the vast differences we find with their developer demographics and consequently the associate differences in their technology and services adoption," he added.

Other highlights from the survey include:

* AJAX has strong adoption across regions but shows more strength in Eastern Europe and India

* Visual Basic is still used by more than half of the developers in Latin America, though usually for a small part of their programming time, whereas in Eastern Europe, Visual Basic use has shrunk to about 30 percent

* When comparing the four regions, India has far largest development teams on average than either Latin America or Eastern Europe.

The extensive survey of over 400 software developers in the emerging markets measures intentions and adoption patterns through in-depth interviews on subjects related to Wireless development. This includes platforms, carriers, programs, tools, and the business of wireless development and distribution of wireless applications.