PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual Quickpro Guide, Second Edition

4. Introduction to SQL and MySQL

This chapter is a departure from its predecessors in that I’ll be temporarily leaving PHP behind to delve into SQL and MySQL. Because this book discusses how to integrate two different technologies (PHP and MySQL), a solid understanding of each individually is important before you begin writing PHP scripts that use SQL and interact with MySQL.

SQL, short for Structured Query Language, is a group of special words used exclusively for interacting with databases. Every major database uses SQL, and MySQL is no exception. SQL was created shortly after Dr. E.F. Codd came up with the theory of relational databases in the early 1970s. In 1989, the American National Standards Institute—the organization responsible for ...