Oracle develops and supports MySQL, an open-source SQL-based database management system. A database is simply a collection of structured data arranged for easy access and retrieval. That “data” for a WordPress site includes the content of your blog entries, information for all of your site’s registered users, auto-loaded data, critical settings setups, etc.
MySQL is one standard method for storing and managing data, and it’s a popular database option for WordPress blogs in particular. Learn how you can create databases for WordPress.
What exactly is MySQL?
MySQL debuted in 1995. Since then, it has gone through a few ownership/stewardship changes before being acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010. MySQL remains an open-source platform, implying that you may use and alter it freely even if Oracle controls it.
The name is derived from combining “My” – the name of the co-daughter founder – with SQL – the acronym for Structured Query Language, a computer language for accessing and managing data in a relational database.
Understanding how MySQL works necessitate familiarity with two related concepts:
Relationship database-
When it concerns storing information in the database, there are several options.
MySQL uses what is known as a relational database.
Instead of dumping everything into one giant database, a relational database divides your data into numerous discrete storage spaces called tables.
Customers would have their table in a relational database, and orders would have their own table.
You’d presumably also like to be able to say things like “display me all the transactions for John Doe.” This is when the relationship component comes into play.
You may connect the information from the two tables together using a “key,” allowing you to edit and mix the data in separate tables as needed. Understanding that a code is not the same as the customer’s name is crucial. Instead, you’d use a one-of-a-kind identifier, such as a unique ID number.
If you look at the database of your WordPress site, you’ll notice that it follows this relational architecture, with all of the data organized into individual tables.
Client-server model
MySQL employs the client-server approach in addition to being a relational database system.
The server is where your information is stored. You must, however, make a request for this information. This is where the customer comes in.
The client requests the database system for the information it requires using SQL, the programming language we described before.
Suppose anybody visits a blog article on your website, for example. In that case, your WordPress website will make many SQL calls to the database server to obtain all of the information necessary to present the blog post to the visitor’s web browser. It would:
Obtain the content for the blog post, and use the wp_posts table.
Retrieve this information, and utilize the wp_users table for the author’s box.
Conclusion
MySQL is a relational database management system that is free and open source. That means it assists you in storing all of your blog articles, users, plugin information, and so on for WordPress sites.
It is relational because it keeps information in different “tables” and relates it using “keys.”
When your WordPress site requires access to that data, it uses SQL to send a proposal to the MySQL database server (client-server model).
Want to know more about SQL? Then head to Seahawk Media.
