Book excerpt: "With an easy, step-by-step approach, this guide shows beginners how to install, use, and maintain the world's most popular open source database: MySQL. You'll learn through real-world examples and many practical tips, including information on how to improve database performance. Database systems such as MySQL help data handling for organizations large and small handle data, providing robust and efficient access in ways not offered by spreadsheets and other types of data stores. This book is also useful for web developers and programmers interested in adding MySQL to their skill sets. Topics include: Installation and basic administration ; Introduction to databases and SQL ; Functions, subqueries, and other query enhancements ; Improving database performance ; Accessing MySQL from popular languages"--