Understanding basic SQL syntax

It's important to understand SQL syntax – especially now that we will be interacting with a SQL "shell" via MySQL. Essentially, the syntax is the language of the system, applications, and devices you are interacting with, so it is extremely important that you know some basics and how to use the syntax.

The following is a list of basic commands that fall within MySQL syntax:

• SELECT: Extracts data from a database
• UPDATE: Updates information in a database
• DELETE: Deletes data from a database
• SHOW: Displays data in a database or table
• USE: Switches to a database
• INSERT INTO: Inserts new data into a database
• CREATE DATABASE: Creates a new database
• ALTER DATABASE: Modifies a database
• CREATE TABLE: Creates a new table

Now that you know some simple syntax, let's go ahead and apply it and start moving around in our new database.