With PHP, you can connect to and manipulate databases.

MySQL is the most popular database system used with PHP.

PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)

• MySQL is a database system used on the web
• MySQL is a database system that runs on a server
• MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications
• MySQL is very fast, reliable, and easy to use
• MySQL uses standard SQL
• MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
• MySQL is free to download and use
• MySQL is developed, distributed, and supported by Oracle Corporation
• MySQL is named after co-founder Monty Widenius's daughter: My

The data in a MySQL database are stored in tables. A table is a collection of related data, and it consists of columns and rows.

Databases are useful for storing information categorically. A company may have a database with the following tables:

• Employees
• Products
• Customers
• Orders

A query is a question or a request.

We can query a database for specific information and have a recordset returned.

Look at the following query (using standard SQL):

SELECT LastName FROM Employees
                          

 

The query above selects all the data in the "LastName" column from the "Employees" table.

To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.

If you don't have a PHP server with a MySQL Database, you can download it for free here: http://www.mysql.com