SQL language is used to operate the database and is the basic one that is being used for all the databases. Just with the presence of minor changes in databases, the basic syntax for SQL remains the same. SQL is also known as a structured query language that is considered as a standard language for the relational database management system.
MySQL is also a language that is used to update, manipulate, and access the database. It is one of the first open source languages that is used to manage database operations. But there are some of the differences between SQL and NoSQL, and in this post, we will discuss those differences between SQL and NoSQL. Firstly we will introduce SQL and MySQL in brief and then the differences between them.
An Introduction to SQL
As discussed in the above section that SQL is used to manage relational databases by the and is just an acronym of Structured Query Language. It is used to write database programs for relational database systems. The language is mainly used to handle structured data. There exist a relation between these data elements, data variables, and entities.
SQL users can retrieve multiple values just through a single command. Here the developers need not specify and know the process to reach to any particular record. SQL falls under the domain-specific language category and comprises of mainly three types of sub-languages that are:
- DDL: Data Definition Language (Contains commands to modify and create the tasks)
- DML: Data Manipulation Language (Contains command to insert, update and delete operations)
- DCL: Data Control Language (Contains access control commands)
SQL is a 4th generation programming language that is multi-paradigm in nature. This declarative language also contains procedural elements. However, being a complete query language, the code written in SQL is not portable.
An Introduction to MySQL
MySQL is an open source RDBMS that was developed by MySQL AB (Currently known as Oracle corporation) in 1995. It is a combination of two words My and SQL. MySQL is written in C and C++ languages and supports Solaris, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Windows operating systems. It is a component of LAMP that is again an acronym of Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP/Python web services.
MySQL is employed in many database-driven web apps like Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, etc. The basic difference between the two is that where SQL is a query language, so MySQL is a database management system. Let us now discuss the difference between SQL and MySQL
Difference between SQL and MySQL
1). Definition
SQL is a structured query language and is mainly used to manage the relational database management system operations
MySQL is an RDBMS that is used to store, modify, retrieve, and administrate a database by using SQL syntax and query language.
2). Complexity
You may need to learn and get trained in SQL to know and practice the language effectively. Moreover, one should also know the process to set up the language as well.
For MySQL, users can easily download and install the RDBMS as it is readily available for this purpose. Any user, either new or experienced, can use MySQL instantly.
3). Connector Support
SQL does not provide the concept of connectors to design and develop the databases. This is the reason due to which it cannot be connected with any desirable application.
The connectors used in MySQL are known as MySQL workbench that can help the developers and designing and developing the databases.
4). Purpose
The purpose of SQL is to query the database system so that desired data can be retrieved from the system in an easy manner and with the help of easy queries.
MySQL allows its users to handle, store, delete, and modify data in tabular format. The purpose of the tool is to allow users to handle the database effectively.
5). Use of the Tool
SQL command and code can be used in various DBMS and RDBMS systems it also includes MySQL database systems.
MySQL database is used as RDBMS systems, and it can be used as a system whole, rather than just merely a database.
Now let us see the differences between SQL and MySQL commands:
| Factors | MySQL Server | MySQL |
| Concatenation Function | Select (‘SQL’ + ‘SERVER’) | SELECT CONCAT (‘My’, ‘SQL’) |
| Length Function | Select Len (data_string) From TableName | Select Character_Length(data_string) From TableName |
| Get Current Data and Time | Select Getdate() | Select Now() |
| To generate GUID | Select NewID() | Select UUID() |
So far, we have discussed both SQL and MySQL databases, along with this, we can also study and know the difference between MySQL and SQL Server as well. SQL Server is a part of SQL that is mostly used to manage the database servers by the database administrators.
MySQL and SQL Server are again two most similar but different databases. MySQL provides a better capability to display data along with selecting, displaying, saving, and updating it. It is not supposed and considered as a good database system in deleting, inserting, and other like operations. For storing and referencing purpose, it can be selected as an excellent choice.
If we will consider the security aspect of both the databases then both MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server are EC2 compliant so they can provide adequate security to the applications. This is the reason due to which in government applications, they both are considered equally.
In terms of support, both of these databases can provide better and optimized support from their respective vendors. On the one hand, MySQL is a subsidiary of Oracle’s CMM Level5 model that can offer round the clock technical support to its users.
Similarly, on the other hand, SQL Server is also pioneered by Microsoft, so can assure its customers for security. It also offers free migration plan for the database either from Microsoft Access or from Sybase or SQL Server.
Some of the common Myths for MySQL and SQL Server
A). SQL Server and MySQL cannot coexist
Being totally separate entities, both SQL Server and MySQL can coexist. They both communicate on different ports default port for MySQL is 3306, while for SQL Server it is 1433 and 1434. But when you run both simultaneously then performance may be a concern for you as a suggestion for such situation is that one should use Windows Server to run both of these servers simultaneously to avoid any performance issue.
You can also virtualize one of the databases to streamline the business process. This can make troubleshooting and managing a production server quite easier.
B). MySQL is Faster than SQL Server
Speed of both the servers depends on the task that has to be performed and executed. For some of the operations like Update, Delete and Select operations SQL Server works faster than MySQL, but for INSERT operation, MySQL works quite faster.
MySQL also works faster for transaction processing with the help of InnoDB storage engine. For reporting workload management, MySQL is not a good choice, especially if there are queries that require a join operation for two large tables than MySQL cannot be a good choice. For the mixed type of workloads, Microsoft SQL Server can be a better choice as it can perform far better than MySQL.
C). Oracle SQL and MySQL are Different
Both Oracle SQL and MySQL are the products of the same company, i.e. Oracle corporation. Both of them are the most used databases, but there are significant differences as well between them. As discussed above, MySQL is an open-source database management system that supports only relational data models.
While Oracle is a multi-model database that has only one integrated backend, it can support various types of data models, including document, graph, key-value, and relational values.
The organizations that are using MySQL are Facebook, Netflix, NASA, Github, YouTube, and Twitter, including many others.
Name of some of the organizations that are using Oracle is Coca-Cola, CAIRN India, MTU Aero Engines, and Bauerfeind.
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen many differences between SQL and MySQL. The query language SQL is for relational databases, whereas MySQL is a popular relational database management system. Here you can see that there is a major difference between SQL Server and MySQL in terms of performance, features, use cases, licensing, and pricing. SQL Server is used by most of the organizations, but the exact selection depends on your budget and functional requirement.