INSERT IGNORE vs INSERT … ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE

In case you want to see what this all means, here is a blow-by-blow of everything:

CREATE TABLE `users_partners` (
  `uid` int(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
  `pid` int(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
  PRIMARY KEY (`uid`,`pid`),
  KEY `partner_user` (`pid`,`uid`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8

Primary key is based on both columns of this quick reference table. A Primary key requires unique values.

Let's begin:

INSERT INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1);
...1 row(s) affected

INSERT INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1);
...Error Code : 1062
...Duplicate entry '1-1' for key 'PRIMARY'

INSERT IGNORE INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1);
...0 row(s) affected

INSERT INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE uid=uid
...0 row(s) affected

note, the above saved too much extra work by setting the column equal to itself, no update actually needed

REPLACE INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1)
...2 row(s) affected

and now some multiple row tests:

INSERT INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4)
...Error Code : 1062
...Duplicate entry '1-1' for key 'PRIMARY'

INSERT IGNORE INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4)
...3 row(s) affected

no other messages were generated in console, and it now has those 4 values in the table data. I deleted everything except (1,1) so I could test from the same playing field

INSERT INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE uid=uid

 ...3 row(s) affected 

REPLACE INTO users_partners (uid,pid) VALUES (1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4) 
...5 row(s) affected

So there you have it. Since this was all performed on a fresh table with nearly no data and not in production, the times for execution were microscopic and irrelevant. Anyone with real-world data would be more than welcome to contribute it.