MySQL applications can be written to use an embedded server. See Section 21.8, “libmysqld, the Embedded MySQL Server Library”. To write such an application, you must link it against the libmysqld library by using the -lmysqld flag rather than linking it against the libmysqlclient client library by using the -lmysqlclient flag. However, the calls to initialize and finalize the library are the same whether you write a client application or one that uses the embedded server: Call mysql_library_init() to initialize the library and mysql_library_end() when you are done with it. See Section 21.9.2, “C API Function Overview”.