What Is MySQL and Why Do I Need It?
Posted July 24, 2008 by Mister Knowitall

Yankl writes: I keep hearing about My Sequel. Is this like My Space? Do I need it? And if I need it, why?

Yankl, MySQL (officially pronounced “”My Ess Que Ell”, but also as “My Sequel” by some of us old-timers) is basically the #1 open source database server in the world. It powers a lot of database driven web-sites like the one you’re reading right now. It also powers Google.

While most of the features of MySpace do require a database to be functional, it seems they’re using Microsoft solutions for their web serving and database options. So their only connection really is that they both begin with “My”.

If you have a web site where you want to offer forums, a blog, e-commerce, etc., you’ll find that a lot of the best web programs for doing this are written to work with MySQL. The reason for this is that it’s powerful and free. Any web hosting service can install it for free, whether they’re running Linux or Windows, and any web developer can get a copy for free to work with while writing their web programs.

If you don’t own a web site or do computer programming, though, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever need to install MySQL on your PC at home or work.

So, long answer short… MySQL is a database program and average folks don’t need it.