SQL Introduction

What Is Relational Database

Published June 22, 2023

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• SQL Introduction
• What are SQL standards
• What is MySQL
• SQL vs. MySQL
• Procedural vs Non-Procedural Lanauage

SQL Introduction

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. Structured query language (SQL) is a standard language for database creation and manipulation. You can also say Structured query language (SQL) is a programming language for storing and processing information in a relational database.

You can use SQL statements to store, update, remove, search, and retrieve information from the database. You can also use SQL to maintain and optimize database performance.

It was initially known as the structured English query language (SEQUEL). The term was later shortened to SQL.

What are SQL standards?

SQL standards are a set of formally defined guidelines of the structured query language (SQL). The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted the SQL standards in 1986. Software vendors use the ANSI SQL standards to build SQL database software for developers.

What is MySQL?

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system. It is not a programming language. MySQL has stand-alone clients that allow users to interact directly with a MySQL database using SQL, but more often, MySQL is used with other programs to implement applications that need relational database capability.

SQL vs. MySQL

1. Structured query language (SQL) is a standard language for database creation and manipulation.

2. MySQL is a relational database program that uses SQL queries.

3. While SQL commands are defined by international standards, the MySQL software undergoes continual upgrades and improvements.

Procedural vs Non-Procedural Lanauage

A procedural language defines both the desired results and the mechanism, or process, by which the results are generated.

Non-procedural languages also define the desired results, but the process by which the results are generated is left to an external agent.

As SQL is a Non-procedural lanauge, you will need to give up some of the control you are used to, because SQL statements define the necessary inputs and outputs, but the manner in which a statement is executed is left to a component of your database engine known as the optimizer.

Also, please note that the result of an SQL query is a table (also called, a result set).