Structured Query Language (SQL) is a domain-specific programming language used to access, modify and extract data from relational databases. It supports data querying, data manipulation such as inserting and deleting records, data definition including the creation of database schemas, and access control to manage user permissions.
SQL was developed at IBM in the early 1970s as part of the System R project. It became a standard query language in the 1980s, when both ANSI and ISO adopted it as the official standard. One of its main advantages over earlier data-manipulation methods was that it allowed users to retrieve and work with sets of records using a single declarative command. SQL also removed the need for programmers to specify low-level details, such as whether an index should be used when accessing a record.
Synonym(s):
- Structured Query Language
