Is a open source database system most commonly used in connecton with the php programming language. It is perhaps the most popular way to add extra functionality into a website. The majority of search engine, forum, form handling and content handling scripts use a MySQL database as a information backend. MySQL has become so popular because it can handle a huge amount of data which makes it powerful, at the same time it's fast and is flexible enough for most web based needs. Most webmasters will need to little to no experience of online database applications to incorporate a MySQL system into their website, most professional script will handle the setup automatically. All that will be required is creating a database name, along with a username and password for the account. This will then need to add this access data into the config file of the script, it is relatively easy to pick up and instructions should be included with most scripts. One of the most popular programs to administer a MySQL database is PHPMyAdmin, when logged into this program you can select databases to view, create a new table for the database, insert data from a csv / text files, export data, edit entries and query. Most web site hosts come with the cPanel user access system, and likewise cPanel usually comes packaged with PHPMyAdmin. Connecting to a mysql database requires three inserts,

Server Address: 'LOCALHOST'
Database Name:
Database Password:

MySQL is compatible with most Linux and Windows platforms, as well as Novell NetWare.