beginner needs to know where to start???

[VickyWinters]

Hi

I have a web space that contains MySQL. I have no idea of what I am doing. I would really like to learn how to use SQL. My goal is to have a web page that users could access to interact with the database.

I have searched the web for tutorials. Each one seems to pertain to servers except for 1 or 2. As I was going through the tutorial….it told me to download “front-mySQL”. Well initially I thought the tutorial was dynamite(everything was working), however, I found out that this “front-mySQL” is discontinued.

I tried a tutorial with PHP. It told me to put the file in my web space, but when I did…. The “hello world” did not display. I gave up.

Then I bought a book Sam’s SQL, PHP, APACHE thinking that this would start me off……but that too seems to pertain to servers. All I have is a home computer.

Now....I have so much downloaded on my computer that pertains to SQL that I have them mixed up in my mind.

So I am back to square one….

Does anyone have a good tutorial for the very very beginner??? Is SQL only for networks? How does anyone learn how to use this? I managed to create a database & table while login to my web space control panel, but I want to be able to do this without spending hours in my control panel.

Since you all know SQL already…..I was sure you could help.

Thanks
vicky

 

[sleipnir214]

I think you are confusing "SQL" with "MySQL". The two are not interchangeable.

SQL is an acronym which stands for Structured Query Language. You use SQL statments to perform queries against a database. These queries include insert, update, delete, or select queries. There is an ANSI standard version for SQL, but all database servers implement custom-extended subsets of the SQL specification.

MySQL is a database server which implements an SQL interface to its data. If you want to interact with a MySQL server, you generally hand the server SQL queries and use programming languages (such as PHP) to manipulate the data returned.


The development of the MySQL management application you mentioned, correctly called "MySQL-Front", is suspended. But the application is still available at

http://mysqlfront.sstienemann.de/

I strongly recommend that you begin by learning PHP first, then MySQL later. Trying to learn PHP, SQL, and the particular quirks of MySQL all at once will present an extremely steep learning curve.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[Dfly]

Vicky, first read your WebHost's FAQ to see what programs they support - SQL? mySQL? PHP? ASP?

Then do a search at

http://www.about.com

using a keyword string like "database mysql tutorial". Many are designed for beginners and some combine mySQL with PHP or ASP.

Once you learn the terminology and basic concepts, do an Internet search for the program called phpMyAdmin. It's a user-friendly way to create tables and edit the data on your tables. But, do learn the basics first. It's only user-friendly, if you understand the terminology.

Dfly