MySQL is (as of March 2014) the world's second most widely used open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is named after co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter, My. The SQL phrase stands for Structured Query Language.
The MySQL development project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL was owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB, now owned by Oracle Corporation.
MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications, and is a central component of the widely used LAMP open source web application software stack (and other 'AMP' stacks). LAMP is an acronym for "Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python." Free-software-open source projects that require a full-featured database management system often use MySQL.
For commercial use, several paid editions are available, and offer additional functionality. Applications which use MySQL databases include: TYPO3, MODx, Joomla, WordPress, phpBB, MyBB, Drupal and other software. MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale websites, including Google (though not for searches), Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.
Features
MySQL is offered under two different editions: the open source MySQL Community Server and the commercial Enterprise Server. MySQL Enterprise Server is differentiated by a series of commercial extensions which install as server plugins, but otherwise shares the version numbering system and is built from the same code base.
