22.5.1. MySQL Connector/C Versions

These versions of MySQL Connector/C are available:

MySQL Connector/C 6.1: Based on the C API parts of current MySQL sources and kept up to date with those sources.
MySQL Connector/C 6.0: Created originally from a branch of the MySQL source tree, but now out of date with respect to C API changes in that tree.

Consequently, MySQL Connector/C 6.1 is preferred over 6.0. MySQL Connector/C 6.1 provides these features not present in 6.0:

Support for the pluggable authentication framework that enables implementation of authentication methods as plugins. This framework can be used for MySQL native authentication as well as external authentication methods. See Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".
Client-side support for the SHA-256, PAM, and Windows native authentication plugins. See Section 6.3.7.2, "The SHA-256 Authentication Plugin", Section 6.3.7.3, "The PAM Authentication Plugin", and Section 6.3.7.4, "The Windows Native Authentication Plugin".

The older MySQL Connector/C 6.0 can connect only to accounts that use native MySQL passwords. If a client program attempts to connect to an account that requires a different authentication method, an "Access denied for user" error occurs.
Support for connecting to accounts that have expired passwords. See Section 6.3.6, "Password Expiration and Sandbox Mode".
Support for prepared CALL statements. This enables client programs to handle stored procedures that produce multiple result sets and to obtain the final value of OUT and INOUT procedure parameters. See Section 22.8.20, "C API Support for Prepared CALL Statements".
Support for connecting over IPv6. See Section 5.1.9, "IPv6 Support".
Support for binding client programs to a specific IP address at connect time. See Section 22.8.7.49, "mysql_options()".
Support for specifying connection attributes to pass to the server at connect time. See Section 22.8.7.49, "mysql_options()", and Section 22.8.7.50, "mysql_options4()".