What is SQL?

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

What Can SQL Do?

• Execute queries against a database
• Retrieve data from a database
• Insert records into a database
• Update records in a database
• Delete records from a database
• Create new databases
• Create new tables in a database
• Create stored procedures in a database
• Create views in a database
• Set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

SQL is a Standard – BUT…

Although SQL is an ANSI/ISO standard, there are various versions of the SQL language. To comply with the ANSI standard, all versions support major commands such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, and WHERE in a similar manner. Additionally, most SQL database programs include proprietary extensions.

Using SQL in Your Web Site

To build a website that displays data from a database, you will need:

• An RDBMS database program (e.g., MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL)
• A server-side scripting language like PHP or ASP
• SQL to fetch the required data
• HTML and CSS to style the web page