<p>Structured Query Language or SQL is the language used when we talk to databases. Queries are the commands that interact with the database.</p>
<h3 id="heading-mysql-vs-sql">MySQL vs SQL</h3>
<p>MySQL is a database management system, unlike SQL which is a language. There are different database management systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLite etc. These DBMS use SQL to interact with the data present inside the database. There are slight differences in the syntax used by various DBMS systems.</p>
<p>What makes DBMS unique are the features they offer, not the language they use.</p>
<div class="hn-table">
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<td>MySQL</td><td>SQL</td></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>MySQL is a relational database management system</td><td>Structured Query Language is a standard language used to communicate with databases</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>MySQL is open-source and free to use</td><td>SQL is not open-source</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>MySQL is available to use only in the English language</td><td>SQL supports different languages</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>MySQL doesn’t support user-defined functions and XML</td><td>SQL supports user-defined functions and XML.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>MySQL supports basic programming languages like C, C++, Python etc.</td><td>SQL is in itself a query language</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

Structured Query Language or SQL is the language used when we talk to databases. Queries are the commands that interact with the database.

### MySQL vs SQL

MySQL is a database management system, unlike SQL which is a language. There are different database management systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLite etc. These DBMS use SQL to interact with the data present inside the database. There are slight differences in the syntax used by various DBMS systems.

What makes DBMS unique are the features they offer, not the language they use.

| MySQL | SQL |
| --- | --- |
| MySQL is a relational database management system | Structured Query Language is a standard language used to communicate with databases |
| MySQL is open-source and free to use | SQL is not open-source |
| MySQL is available to use only in the English language | SQL supports different languages |
| MySQL doesn’t support user-defined functions and XML | SQL supports user-defined functions and XML. |
| MySQL supports basic programming languages like C, C++, Python etc. | SQL is in itself a query language |

Understand the distinction between SQL as a language and MySQL as a database management system (DBMS) in this insightful article

MySQL	SQL
MySQL is a relational database management system	Structured Query Language is a standard language used to communicate with databases
MySQL is open-source and free to use	SQL is not open-source
MySQL is available to use only in the English language	SQL supports different languages
MySQL doesn’t support user-defined functions and XML	SQL supports user-defined functions and XML.
MySQL supports basic programming languages like C, C++, Python etc.	SQL is in itself a query language

MySQL and SQL - What is the difference?

MySQL vs SQL