SQL is language for interacting with databases. Basically a document describing the grammar of the language. Most database engines, the programs which actually maintains and provides read/write access to the underlying database, will allow clients to access the database via SQL. For example, if I have a connection to a database I can send it the following SQL query:

select FirstName, LastName from contacts where state='NY'

which will return a result set containing the first and last name of all my contacts who live in NY.

Microsoft's database engine is called SQL Server. While database engines usually run on server class machines, they can be run on just about any type of device, even your phone, as long as the appropriate resources are available.

SQL is language for interacting with databases. Basically a document describing the grammar of the language. Most database engines, the programs which actually maintains and provides read/write access to the underlying database, will allow clients to access the database via SQL. For example, if I have a connection to a database I can send it the following SQL query:

select FirstName, LastName from contacts where state='NY'

which will return a result set containing the first and last name of all my contacts who live in NY.

Microsoft's database engine is called SQL Server. While database engines usually run on server class machines, they can be run on just about any type of device, even your phone, as long as the appropriate resources are available.