PHP MySQL Introduction

MySQL is the most popular database system used with the PHP language.

What is MySQL

MySQL is one of the most popular relational database systems on the web today. It is provided for free and is easy to install, but if you have already installed Wampserver on your computer, you can install it as well. The MySQL database server has the following advantages:

• MySQL is easy to use, but it is extremely powerful, fast, secure, and scalable.

• MySQL can run on various operating systems, including UNIX or Linux, Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and so on.

• MySQL supports standard SQL (Structured Query Language).

• MySQL is an ideal database solution for both small and large applications.

• MySQL is developed and distributed by Oracle Corporation.

• MySQL includes a data security layer that can protect sensitive data from intruders.

MySQL databases store data in tables like other relational databases. Tables are collections of related data and are divided into rows and columns.

Each row in the table represents an inherently related data record, such as information related to a specific person, while each column represents a specific field, such as id, first_name, last_name, email, etc. A simple MySQL table structure that contains general information about people may look like this:

+----+------------+-----------+----------------------+
| id | first_name | last_name | email |
+----+------------+-----------+----------------------+
|　　1　| Peter | Parker | [email protected] |
|　　2　| John | Rambo | [email protected] |
|　　3　| Clark | Kent | [email protected] |
|　　4　| John | Carter | [email protected] |
|　　5　| Harry | Potter | [email protected] |
+----+------------+-----------+----------------------+

Communicate with MySQL database using SQL

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a simple standardized language used to communicate with relational databases such as MySQL. With SQL, you can perform any task related to the database, such as creating databases and tables, storing data in database tables, querying the database to retrieve specific records, and deleting and updating data in the database.

See the following standard SQL query, which returnspersonin the table whose name equals "Peter"personEmail address:

SELECT email FROM persons WHERE first_name="Peter"

If the above SQL query is executed, it will return the following records:

[email protected]

For more information about SQL, please seeSQL Tutorialpart.