Difference Between SQL and MySQL

Key Difference – SQL vs MySQL
 

A database is a collection of data. There are various types of databases. Relational databases are database types to store data in the form of tables. These tables are related to each other since they use constraints. MySQL is a Relational database management system. The language which use to perform operations on a database is called SQL. The key difference between SQL and MySQL is that SQL is a language to manage data in a relational database and MySQL is an open source Relational Database management system to manage databases using SQL.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is SQL
3. What is MySQL
4. Similarities Between SQL and MySQL
5. Side by Side Comparison – SQL vs MySQL in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is SQL?

Data is valuable for an organization to perform its tasks efficiently and effectively. Thus, it is necessary to store data accurately. A database is used to store data. There are different types of databases. A relational database is one of them. Relational databases consist of tables and data is stored in these tables. Tables consist of rows and columns. A row is a record, and a column is a field. Each data has a specific data type.

A relational database can have multiple tables. These tables are connected using primary keys and foreign keys. The Structured query language is the query language using to store, manage, retrieve data in a relational database. SQL was developed using relational algebra.

SQL can be divided into three subcategories. They are Data Definition Language (DDL), Data Control Language (DCL) and Data Manipulate language (DML). Commands such as create, alter, the drop can be categorized under DDL. Commands like insert, update, delete can be categorized under DML. Grant, revoke belongs to DCL.

What is MySQL?

MySQL is one such open source Relational Database Management System. A program, which defines, construct and manipulate a database is known as Database Management System. The programmer can use SQL queries on MySQL for data storing and retrieval. It provides data administration, data migration, and data protection.

MySQL is a fast and easy to use. It is popular database management system for back-end development. It is commonly used with PHP for web development.  Many languages use libraries to connect to MySQL. For example, Java uses JDBC driver to connect the application to MySQL. It also works on different platforms such as Linux, Windows, Mac. MySQL client is a client program connect to the server. MySQL-bench provides performance testing tools for the server.

What are the Similarities Between SQL and MySQL?

• Both are related to a relational database.
• Both describe the data type.
• Both can use indexes, stored procedures, views.
• SQL is the foundation language for MySQL.
• Both can use to perform arithmetic operation (+, -, *, /, %)
• Can perform comparison operations. (>, <, >=, <= etc.)
• Can perform logical operations. (and, or, not)
• Contains keys to create relationships among tables. (primary key, foreign key )
• Capable of using an alias.
• Can join tables. (inner join, outer join, left join, right join)
• Can use aggregate functions (min (), max (), count (), sum (), avg ())

What is the Difference Between SQL and MySQL?

Summary – SQL vs MySQL 

The database is used to store logically related data. There various database types. Databases which store text and numbers are traditional databases.  Databases which can store images are known as Multimedia databases. Some organizations use Geographical Information Systems for storing geographical images. One common database type is relational databases. This article discussed the difference between SQL and MySQL. The difference between SQL and MySQL is that SQL is a query language to manage data in a relational database and MySQL is an open source Relational Database management system to manage databases using SQL.

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Reference:

1.Point, Tutorials. “SQL Overview.”  Tutorials Point, 15 Aug. 2017. Available here 
2.Point, Tutorials. “MySQL Introduction.”  Tutorials Point, 15 Aug. 2017. Available here  
3.”Introduction to DBMS”, YouTube, 11 Jan. 2015. Available here 
4. “SQL Crash Course – Beginner to Intermediate”TechGuyWeb. YouTube, YouTube, 29 Mar. 2016. Available here 

Image Courtesy:

1.’Database-mysql’By RRZEicons – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia