Chapter 1. Getting Started with MySQL and SQL

This chapter provides an introduction to the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), and to the Structured Query Language (SQL) that MySQL understands. It lays out basic terms and concepts you should understand, describes the sampdb sample database that we'll use for examples, and serves as a tutorial that shows you how to use MySQL to create a database and interact with it.

Begin here if you are new to databases and perhaps uncertain whether you need one or can use one. You should also read the chapter if you don't know anything about MySQL or SQL and need an introductory guide to get started. Readers who have experience with MySQL or with database systems might want to skim through the material. However, everybody should read the section "A Sample Database," to become familiar with the purpose and contents of the sampdb database that is used throughout the book.