What is SQL?

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a programming language that is used to manage and manipulate relational databases. It is used to insert, update, delete and retrieve data from a relational database. It is a standard language used by most relational databases, such as MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and others. SQL has several basic commands that can be used to interact with a database, such as:

• SELECT: used to retrieve data from a database
• INSERT: used to insert new data into a database
• UPDATE: used to modify existing data in a database
• DELETE: used to delete data from a database
• CREATE: used to create new database objects such as tables and indexes
• ALTER: used to modify the structure of existing database objects
• DROP: used to delete database objects

SQL also has several advanced features such as subqueries, joins, and stored procedures, that allows to perform more complex operations on a database. SQL is widely used in various fields such as finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. It is a powerful language that can be used to extract insights from large and complex data sets, and to support decision-making. It is important to note that SQL is a declarative language, which means that you specify what you want to get and the database system figures out how to get it. This is different from a procedural language where you specify a sequence of instructions to get the desired results.