My SQL LogoThe Simple Definition:

In simple terms MY SQL is the storage of website information which is catalogued into categories and indexed to be later called upon by the php script  within a CMS such as wordpress to create a dynamic web page on the fly. In a word it’s a database software for use on servers. In physical terms it equates to a library. MY SQL merely stores and processes that information via the MY SQL software on the server for the pages to be rendered by the appropriate coding. MY SQL on its own is virtually useless  as it needs to be told what to do and when and how to do it which is the job of the php code within a wordpress software program. PHP you could say is the librarian retrieving the book and presenting it to the person requesting that particular item.

The Technical Definition:

MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. MySQL is officially pronounced /maɪˌɛskjuːˈɛl/ (“My S-Q-L”),[2] but is often also pronounced /maɪˈsiːkwəl/ (“My Sequel”). It is named after developer Michael Widenius’ daughter, My. The SQL phrase stands for Structured Query Language.

The MySQL development project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL was owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB, now owned by Oracle Corporation.

Free-software projects that require a full-featured database management system often use MySQL. Where the project may lead to something in commercial use, the license terms need careful study. Some free software project examples: Joomla, WordPress, phpBB, Drupal and other software built on the LAMP software stack. MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale World Wide Web products, including Wikipedia, Google[5] (though not for searches) and Facebook.

 
UsesMySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications, and is a central component of the widely used LAMP web application software stack—LAMP is an acronym for “Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP”. Its popularity is closely tied to the popularity of PHP.

MySQL is used in some of the most frequently visited web sites on the Internet, including Flickr,Nokia.com, YouTubeand as previously mentioned; Wikipedia, Google and Facebook.

[edit] Platforms and interfacesMySQL is written in C and C++. Its SQL parser is written in yacc, and a home-brewed lexical analyzer named sql_lex.cc.

MySQL works on many different system platforms, including AIX, BSDi, FreeBSD, HP-UX, eComStation, i5/OS, IRIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, NetBSD, Novell NetWare, OpenBSD, OpenSolaris, OS/2 Warp, QNX, Solaris, Symbian, SunOS, SCO OpenServer, SCO UnixWare, Sanos and Tru64. A port of MySQL to OpenVMS also exists.

Many programming languages with language-specific APIs include libraries for accessing MySQL databases. These include MySQL Connector/Net for integration with Microsoft’s Visual Studio (languages such as C# and VB are most commonly used) and the ODBC driver for Java. In addition, an ODBC interface called MyODBC allows additional programming languages that support the ODBC interface to communicate with a MySQL database, such as ASP or ColdFusion. The HTSQL – URL based query method also ships with a MySQL adapter, allowing direct interaction between a MySQL database and any web client via structured URLs. The MySQL server and official libraries are mostly implemented in ANSI C/ANSI C++.