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MySQL FAQs - Database Basics and Terminologies

By: FYIcenter.com

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A collection of 20 questions on MySQL database basics and terminlogies to help you review your knowledge. A short answer is provided for each question. Good for job interview preparation. Topics included in this collections:

1. What Is MySQL?
2. What Is mSQL?
3. What Is SQL?
4. What Is Table?
5. What Is Column?
6. What Is Row?
7. What Is Primary Key?
8. What Is Foreign Key?
9. What Is Index?
10. What Is View?
11. What Is Join?
12. What Is Union?
13. What Is ISAM?
14. What Is MyISAM?
15. What Is InnoDB?
16. What Is BDB (BerkeleyDB)?
17. What Is CSV?
18. What Is Transaction?
19. What Is Commit?
20. What Is Rollback?

What Is MySQL?

MySQL is an open source database management system developed by MySQL AB, http://www.mysql.com.

What Is mSQL?

Mini SQL (mSQL) is a light weight relational database management system capable of providing rapid access to your data with very little overhead. mSQL is developed by Hughes Technologies Pty Ltd.

MySQL was started from mSQL and shared the same API.

What Is SQL?

SQL, SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language), is a language for RDBMS (Relational Database Management Systems). SQL was developed by IBM Corporation.

What Is Table?

A table is a data storage structure with rows and columns.

What Is Column?

A column defines one piece of data stored in all rows of the table.

What Is Row?

A row is a unit of data with related data items stored as one item in one column in a table.

What Is Primary Key?

A primary key is a single column or multiple columns defined to have unique values that can be used as row identifications.

What Is Foreign Key?

A foreign key is a single column or multiple columns defined to have values that can be mapped to a primary key in another table.

What Is Index?

An index is a single column or multiple columns defined to have values pre-sorted to speed up data retrieval speed.

What Is View?

A view is a logical table defined by a query statement.

What Is Join?

Join is data retrieval operation that combines rows from multiple tables under certain matching conditions to form a single row.

What Is Union?

Join is data retrieval operation that combines multiple query outputs of the same structure into a single output.

What Is ISAM?

ISAM (Indexed Sequential Access Method) was developed by IBM to store and retrieve data on secondary storage systems like tapes.

(Continued on next part...)

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