Describe MySQL's connection pooling and optimization strategies.

Connection pooling reuses database connections to reduce overhead.

Benefits:
• Reduced connection establishment time
• Lower memory usage
• Better resource utilization
• Improved scalability

Configuration:
max_connections = 1000
thread_cache_size = 100

Tools:
• ProxySQL
• MySQL Router
• Application-level pools (HikariCP, c3p0)