Category: 4. Fact

Each RDBMS has its own “dialect” of SQL:

• T-SQL → Microsoft SQL Server
• PL/SQL → Oracle
• pgSQL → PostgreSQL
• MySQL SQL → MySQL flavor
  The basics remain the same, but advanced features may differ.

SQL is supported by almost every major RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) like:

• MySQL
• PostgreSQL
• Oracle Database
• Microsoft SQL Server
• SQLite
  Despite slight differences in syntax, all use SQL as the base language.

SQL is set-based rather than row-based. Instead of looping through individual rows, SQL handles groups (or sets) of rows at once. For example, finding the average salary of all employees takes just one query using AVG().

SQL commands are not case-sensitive. For example:

SELECT name FROM students;
select name from students;
SeLeCt name FROM students;

All three queries will give the same result.

Unlike programming languages such as Python or Java, SQL is declarative. This means you only need to specify what you want from the database (e.g., select all customers from Pakistan), not how to get it. The database engine figures out the best way to execute your request.

In 1986, SQL became an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard, and in 1987, it was adopted by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). This standardization made SQL the universal language for relational databases.

Originally, SQL was called SEQUEL, short for Structured English Query Language. It was renamed to SQL after legal issues with the trademark on the word “SEQUEL.”

SQL was first developed in the 1970s at IBM. Two computer scientists, Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce, created it to manage and query data stored in IBM’s relational database system.

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is a language specifically designed to communicate with databases. Through SQL, users can create, read, update, and delete data in a structured way.