SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a database programming language through which a website and database can communicate with each other.
What is SQL?
SQL helps to structure and manage information held on a database as well as carry out searches for information using structures – for example, putting information about employees into a system listing their age, role, year of joining and department.
Developers use SQL because it is a standardised language for requesting information from a database. It sends a query to the database from a website or search engine and the response is almost immediate.
As well as retrieving data from a database, SQL can modify - insert, update or delete - records on the database, create new databases and create tables or views.
While SQL works to an international standard, there are various developers which work in a slightly different way. These include Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, and Microsoft which produce Relational Database Management Systems or RDMS. (MySQL is open to the public to upgrade via the internet which means it is free – and popular with developers.)
SQL was first used in database development at IBM in the 1970s. The first commercially available version was on the market in 1979 but became a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1986, and of the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in 1987. Since then it has been enhanced several times with added features, the latest version having launched in 2008.
Our team of SQL developers in Berkshire use an RDMS with SQL, ASP, HTML/CSS to build websites and applications for clients across Berkshire and beyond the county boundaries.
Programmers and developers use SQL to build websites or applications driven in part by databases as the two systems communicate with each other but the user just sees the end result. The query runs behind the scenes and does not affect the performance of the website.
The RDMS stores data in tables in columns and rows. The information is retrieved using SQL statements. For example, in a table involving people’s names, the following statement would collate all that data: SELECT * FROM Persons. The result is then stored in a result-set. Using an SQL ‘Join’, data from more than one table can be extracted.
Microsoft Access is often used with SQL on company servers, allowing staff to access data through their own desktop PC from the server – for example customer details or financial data.
Examples of popular websites which have been developed with some element of SQL programming are Ebay, Autotrader, and Amazon.
Please get in contact with us to discuss your project requirements, our team who are always happy to talk without obligation and offer a free initial consultation.
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