What does SQL mean?

A database is a collection of data. There are both electronic databases and nonelectronic databases. Both a filling cabinet and the phone book on a mobile phone are examples of different kinds of databases.

Another example is an unsorted pile of papers. When you need to find something you rifle through the stack until you find the bit of paper you need. This is acceptable only because the database (pile of papers) is very small. This same level of organisation won't work with larger databases, for example a public library. If you remove the index and librarian from a public library it is still a database, it's just an unusable database. In general you can see that almost all databases need some form of organisation.

SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is not in itself a database. It is a method for storing, organising and querying electronic databases. As such a SQL server is computer software which allows you to create and maintain electronic databases. Common SQL server software includes Microsoft SQL Server (on Windows only) and MySQL (on Unix, Linux, and Windows).

SQL is an American Nation Standards Institute (or ANSI) standard. Unfortunately, there are many different versions of SQL. However to be in compliance with the ANSI standard they must support the same common features in a similar manner. Whilst most SQL database programs support the basic ANSI standard, a lot also have their own proprietary extensions in addition to the standard.