The mysql CLI and First Commands

Part of the MySQL course

The last lesson was all talk: what MySQL is, where it came from, why it exists. None of that lets you actually ask a server anything. A database server that nobody can reach is just a process burning memory. To do anything useful with MySQL, you need a way to type a question and get an answer back, and that means a client: a program that connects to the server, sends it your commands, and prints whatever comes back.

The client you will use for the rest of this course is called mysql. It is a small program that speaks the MySQL network protocol on your behalf and gives you a prompt where you can type one query at a time and watch the result. It is not fancy, and that is the point: almost every tutorial, every piece of documentation, and every other tool you will meet later assumes you are comfortable at this prompt first. ...