[...]... the Translator ■DAVID KRAMER earned his Ph.D in mathematics at the University of Maryland, and his M.A in music at Smith College For many years he worked in higher education, first as a professor of mathematics and computer science, and later as a director of academic computing Since 1995 he has worked as an independent editor and translator He has edited hundreds of books in mathematics and the sciences... 1 ■■■ What Is MySQL? T his chapter begins with an overview of the most important concepts from the world of databases and then delves into the possibilities and limitations of MySQL What is MySQL? What can it do, and what is it unable to do? In addition to describing the central functions of MySQL, we shall also discuss fully the issue of licensing MySQL When is one permitted to use MySQL without payment,... PHP The second part of the book introduces the most important administrative tools and user interfaces: mysql, mysqladmin, mysqldump; the programs MySQL Administrator, MySQL Query Browser; and finally phpMyAdmin The latter program is particularly well suited for off-site administration using a web browser A separate chapter shows how Microsoft Office, Sun StarOffice, and OpenOffice can be used to access... example-oriented introduction to the database system MySQL No previous knowledge of SQL or database design is assumed The introductory part of the book begins with an extensive introduction on installing MySQL, Apache, PHP, and Perl under Windows and Linux We also consider the installation of components that are used in combination with MySQL Building on this, our first example will show the basic use of MySQL. .. documented on the Internet, and there are many books on the subject available • MySQL is available for many applications free of charge (GPL license) • Since the licensing restrictions of GPL are unacceptable for many commercial applications, there are reasonably priced commercial licenses and optional support contracts MySQL is on the verge of repeating in the database market the success achieved by... show how to use the interfaces mysql and mysqli (new in PHP 5) We deal with other programming languages, too, with chapters devoted to Perl, Java, C, Visual Basic 6, as well as VB.NET and C# xxvii 5351fm_final.qxd xxviii 8/26/05 6:12 PM Page xxviii ■PREFACE We end the main text with a reference section (Part 5) that provides an overview of the SQL commands of MySQL, the commands and options of the administrative... foundation for the development of your own database applications In this I wish you much fun and success What Is New in This Third Edition? This edition is an extensive revision of the second edition Most of the changes relate to changes in the MySQL server from version 4.1 to version 5.0 But there is also much that is new in areas surrounding MySQL, including new programming interfaces (e.g., mysqli in... is the most widely used database system in the Open Source sector There are many reasons why this is so: • MySQL is fast • MySQL is stable • MySQL is easy to learn • MySQL runs on popular operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, various flavors of Unix) • MySQL applications can be created in a great variety of programming languages (such as C, C++, C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, VB, and VB.NET) • MySQL. .. with the data parceled out among several computers and dozens of hard drives The size of a database can range from a few kilobytes into the terabytes.1 In ordinary usage, the word “database” is used to refer to the actual data, the resulting database files, the database system (such as MySQL or Oracle), or a database client (such as a PHP script or a program written in C++) Thus there arises a great... soon as two people begin to converse on the subject of databases Relations, Database Systems, Servers, and Clients A database is an ordered collection of data, which is normally stored in one or more associated files The data are structured as tables, where cross references among tables are possible The existence of such relations among the tables leads to the database being called a relational database . h0" alt="" The Definitive Guide to MySQL5 Third Edition Michael Kofler Translated By David Kramer 5351fm_final.qxd 8/26/05 6:12 PM Page i The Definitive Guide to MySQL 5 Copyright © 2005 by Michael. of infringement of the trademark. Lead Editor: Jason Gilmore Translator and Editor: David Kramer Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Dan Appleman, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Tony Davis, Jason Gilmore,. have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work. The source code for