SQL Introduction

SQL is a standard language for storing, manipulating and retrieving data in databases.

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It allows you to access and manipulate databases, and it became a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1986, and of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1987.

What Can SQL do?

SQL can execute queries against a database
SQL can retrieve data from a database
SQL can insert records in a database
SQL can update records in a database
SQL can delete records from a database
SQL can create new databases
SQL can create new tables in a database
SQL can create stored procedures in a database
SQL can create views in a database
SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

SQL is a Standard - BUT....

Although SQL is an ANSI/ISO standard, there are different versions of the SQL language.

However, to be compliant with the ANSI standard, they all support at least the major commands (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE) in a similar manner.

Using SQL in Your Web Site

To build a web site that shows data from a database, you will need:

An RDBMS database program (i.e. MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL)
To use a server-side scripting language, like PHP or ASP
To use SQL to get the data you want
To use HTML / CSS to style the page

RDBMS

RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System.

RDBMS is the basis for SQL, and for all modern database systems such as MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft Access.