
In its newer versions, MySQL also supports transactions, which helps ensure data integrity by making sure that related updates happen on an all-or-nothing basis. (Some database mavens would still argue that MySQL isn’t truly deserving of the “relational DBMS” moniker, but we don’t want to get into a philosophical argument here.)Īs an alternative to MySQL, you could download the source code for PostgreSQL, another free, open-source relational database management system.


PostgreSQL is included in a number of popular Unix distributions, but it’s less suitable for example purposes here, as it’s not available as a precompiled Windows binary and will only run under NT-based versions of Windows.For example, your driver’s license is a single record in a flat-file database that resides on a computer at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Your license contains your name, gender, height, weight, eyes and hair color, address, date of birth, license issue and expiration date, license class.īecause it’s possible to have multiple people with the same name, address, gender, and description (like a father and son), driver’s licenses all have license numbers. This unique number is called a Key Field, which is used to connect a flat-file database to other associated databases (called relational databases).
