This chapter provides an overview of the Structured Query Language, or SQL. Although sometimes pronounced “sequel,” the official pronunciation is to name each letter as “ess-cue-ell.” The SQL language is the main means of interacting with nearly all modern relational database systems. SQL provides commands to configure the tables, indexes, and other data structures within the database. SQL commands are also used to insert, update, and delete data records, as well as query those records to look up specific data values.
All interaction with a relational database is done through the SQL language. This is true when interactively typing commands or when using the programming API. In all cases, data is stored, modified, and retrieved through SQL commands. Many times, people look through the list of API calls, looking for functions that provide direct program access to the table or index data structures. Functions of this sort do not exist. The API is structured around preparing and issuing SQL commands to the database engine. If you want to query a table or insert a value using the API, you must create and execute the proper SQL command. If you want to do relational database programming, you must know SQL.
Get Using SQLite now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
