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r/SQL on Reddit: Is MySQL a database or DBMs

April 6, 2024 -

New to MySQl. I know database is a “collection of date stored in a system” and relational database as “is database stored in tables” but unable to grasp it beyond the obvious words

Is MySQL a database to store the data or the tool to interact with the data?
Even basic to that, is database the type of source file (says share point list, excel, csv file) or the location of where the file is stored?
When someone says you can create databases in SQL, do they mean taking out a partitioon of the original source data?
My organisation uses Powerapps to collect information and stores it in share point list. Can it be stored in Mysql instead of a sharepoint list?

Top answer

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Think of a database as a library IRL. Let’s say you want to teach a child to read but you need more information before you can pick out an appropriate book for the kid. Long before you decided to do your research at the library, someone had to acquire and use construction industry tools and requirements and knowledge and workflow (aka “a system”) needed to design and construct the library building — in this analogy, the construction “system” represents the mySQL server (a relational database management system). mySQL is a language used by database programmers [construction engineers] working in mySQL server [construction system] — it’s the specialized terminology and syntax and rules used by the professionals responsible for constructing our library. After the library [database] is built, local residents [end users] can use it. Let’s say the library has 3 floors: one for kids’ books, one for fiction, and one for non-fiction. These floors are analogous to database tables; it’s a way of organizing information/books. The books on any given floor in the library aren’t randomly scattered; they’re stored in efficiently organized and labeled shelves — these are the fields (aka columns) within the database tables. The books in this analogy represent the data. Now imagine you’re interested in teaching a child to read. You go to the library [database]. You head to the non-fiction floor [table]. You found the shelves [fields] that contain books [data] about teaching children to read. You browse one of these non-fiction books and notice a page that says the very best children’s book for kids learning to read is “Go, Dog, Go” by P. D. Eastman. You know that “Go, Dog, Go” is a kid book [data], so it’s not stored on the non-fiction floor [table]. You consult a library map [a diagram of the database model] and realize the kid book [data] is probably stored on the kids’ floor [table] on the shelves [fields] labelled “Children’s Fiction by Authors A - E.” You navigate through the library [database] until “Go, Dog, Go” is checked out in your name and you take it home. The relational nature of the library [database] is what made it possible to select the kid book [data] you wanted. The non-fiction [table] book [data] did not include the kid [table] book [data] itself, but it made a reference [a relationship] to the kid [table] book [data] with enough information [author last name] to find and acquire “Go, Dog, Go” [specific data sought].

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MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS), not the tool to interact with the data, but the place where your database lives and it's the collection of services/processes that store, manage, and make the data available for interacting with it via SQL. I wouldn't call a SharePoint list/Excel/CSV file a database (although people who aren't DBAs are quick to call pretty much any flat file a database). They're just files that store information. And Excel itself is just a bunch of XML files in a trench coat zip container. Fun fact: on-prem SharePoint uses Microsoft SQL Server (Microsoft's RDBMS) to actually store everything, including the files. What source data are you actually referring to? A database is a collection of objects (tables, views, stored procedures, functions, etc) that you can create. The data in a database is stored and organized in tables. You/your users/apps are the ones creating/updating the data and subsequently storing it in the tables that reside in your database. Yes, but what's the problem that you're trying to fix with that approach? If SharePoint works for that use case, then use it, since it's more user-friendly. Storing it in MySQL would imply you creating a database and the tables that would store the data and also adding a way for users to easily visualize said data (a dashboard in PowerBI or SSRS for example that "fetches" the data via queries).

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