What is the function of MySQL?

[symphony]

May I know the function of MySQL? I don't really understand what it does. I know it's a relational database management system though.

And what about PHP? What does it do, too?

Advanced thanks to anyone that help.

Regards,
Symphony

[crabpot8]

in short - mysql allows you to store data about people that visit your site. (hence, data base - the base for your data :P ) So the forum you just made? The text you typed in was stored in a database, and your username was associated with it, and some other fancy stuff. You need to google database tutorial or something to get the big picture. I recommend tizag.com - they are simple tutorials

php allows the server to do soemthing BEFORE it sends you the page. So this page - showthread.php?t=3831 - that t=3831 is a variable, that the server reads in, connects to the database, and asks for the text for the title and body for thread number 3831. Change that number to something, and the text will be different. Thats php dynamically changing th content. Again, hit up tizag. Also - google. A lot. :)

crab

[pghcollectibles]

i copied this straight from the site i recommend for people, w3schools.com (http://www.w3schools.com):

PHP is a powerful server-side scripting language for creating dynamic and interactive websites.
PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP. PHP is perfectly suited for Web development and can be embedded directly into the HTML code.
The PHP syntax is very similar to Perl and C. PHP is often used together with Apache (web server) on various operating systems. It also supports ISAPI and can be used with Microsoft's IIS on Windows.


from their home page you would click learn php on the left side and mysql will be a section within that. they say mysql is a database. i like to think of it as a language though. it is slightly different from sql. asp is a server side language made for microsoft. the rest of us (host monster included) use php. it is for *nix type os.

[symphony]

Thanks to crabpot8 and pghcollectibles.

I noticed that there is MySQL and SQL. What's the difference between the two?

And thanks for the tizag.com and w3schools.com. They're useful. :D

[pghcollectibles]

dont quote me on this but i think sql is a certain format and mysql is the language we use with the databases

[Paveway]

SQL itself is a language. MySQL and MsSQL etc are different forms of the language/database. They all basically work the same (core syntax is the same) but the different flavors of SQL have different abilities.

For example PostgreSQL can do full text searching within the database but MySQL is limited to partial text searches. Fundamentally both of their syntax is practically the same.

[DataMan]

I work with this stuffola everyday (pays the bills). Let me try this analogy:

MySQL = database.

Database : A collection of one or more Tables (like Excel Workbooks)

Database Table : A collection of one or more Fields ( like Cells in Excel (columns)

Database Record : A row of fields (like an Excel row).

SQL : How you get data into or out of a database table (like a "formula" in Excel).

Hope this helps,

DataMan

[griff671]

Perfect, DataMan!

THANKS, I needed that! :D

Griff