What is SQL?

The standard language for asking questions of, and changing data in, relational databases.

In plain English

SQL stands for structured query language. You describe what data you want, such as which columns, from which tables and under what conditions, and the database works out how to fetch it. Core commands are SELECT to read, INSERT to add, UPDATE to change and DELETE to remove.

Example

SELECT name FROM customers WHERE city = 'Perth' returns the names of customers in Perth.

Where you will meet it

This idea belongs to the subject area of these practice tests. We do not publish or predict real exam questions.

• CompTIA Data+ practice tests
• SnowPro Associate practice tests
• Google Cloud Associate Data Practitioner practice tests

Related terms

• ETL vs ELT: ETL transforms data before loading it. ELT loads it first and transforms it inside the destination.
• Data warehouse vs data lake: A warehouse stores cleaned, structured data for reporting. A lake stores raw data of any kind cheaply.

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