MySQL vs. SQL

MySQL is a relational database management system (or RDMS) –meaning that it is a database management system based on the relational model. This RDMS runs as its own server and provides multi-user access to multiple databases at once. The source code of MySQL is available under the terms set forth in the GNU General Public License as well as a plethora of proprietary agreements. Members of the MySQL community have created many different branches of the RDMS –the most popular of which are Drizzle and MariaDB. As well as being the prototype of several branches, most free software projects that must have a full featured database management system (or DMS) use MySQL.

Structured Query Language (also known as SQL) is a database language. It was designed specifically to manage data in RDMSs and its conception was based upon relational algebra. The range of its capabilities includes data query and update, schema creation and modification, and data access control. It was one of the first languages using the RDMS model and is most certainly the most widely used language for these relational databases. The SQL language is subdivided into multiple language elements: clauses, which are occasionally optional constituent components of statements and queries; expressions, which produce either scalar values or tables that are comprised of columns and rows of data; predicates, which are used to specify conditions that are able to evaluated to SQL three valued logic (or 3VL) Boolean truth values; queries, which retrieve data based on particular specifications; and statements, which affect the schemas and data or can also control transactions, program flow, connections, sessions, or diagnostics.

MySQL can be found in many web applications as the database component of a solution bundle (or LAMP) software stack. Its use can be seen widely in such popular web sites as Flickr, FaceBook, Wikipedia, Google, Nokia, and YouTube. Each one of these websites use MySQL for storage and the logging of user data. The code is comprised of the C and C++ languages and uses many different system platforms –including Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

SQL is now a standard and its structure is made up of many different components. These include, but are not limited to, SQL Framework, SQL/Foundation, SQL/Bindings, SQL/CLI (Call Level Interface), and SQL/XML (or XML related Specifications).

Summary:

1. MySQL is an RDMS that runs as its own server and provides multi-user access to multiple databases at the same time; SQL is a database language designed specifically to manage data in RDMSs.

2. MySQL is used in multiple popular web applications as a means of storage and logging user data; SQL is a standard made up of multiple components including, but not limited to, SQL Framework, SQL/CLI, and SQL/XML.

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