What is Database?

A database is an organized collection of data stored in a computer system and usually controlled by a
database management system (DBMS).

MySQL vs NoSQL:
Feature MySQL NoSQL

Data Model Relational Various (Document, Key-Value, Columnar)

Schema Schema-based Schema-less

Query Language SQL Varies by type (e.g., MongoDB uses JSON)

Limited horizontal
Scalability Horizontally scalable
scalability

ACID Supports ACID

Varies by implementation
Transactions transactions

Flexibility Less flexible schema More flexible schema

Optimized for structured

Performance Performance varies by implementation
data

Typically simpler to
Complexity Can be more complex to manage
manage

Consistency Strong consistency model Eventual or eventual-plus consistency

Suitable for structured Suitable for unstructured or semi-structured

Use Cases
data data

Examples MySQL, PostgreSQL MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis

MySQL vs Oracle:

Feature MySQL Oracle

Open-source, with enterprise

Licensing Commercial, with enterprise options
edition
 Feature MySQL Oracle

Cost Lower cost for most use cases Higher cost, especially for enterprise use

High performance, especially for large

Performance Generally high performance
databases

Platform Cross-platform (Linux, Cross-platform (Linux, Windows, macOS,

Support Windows, macOS) more)

Limited scalability compared

Scalability Highly scalable, especially with RAC
to Oracle

Rich feature set, but fewer

Feature Set Extensive enterprise features
enterprise features

Community Strong open-source

Strong enterprise support
Support community

Can be more complex, especially for

Ease of Use Generally easy to use
large deployments

Strong security features, often required in

Security Good security features
enterprise environments

Examples MySQL, MariaDB Oracle Database, Oracle Exadata

RDBMS vs DRDBMS vs DBMS:

Feature RDBMS DRDBMS DBMS

Distributed Relational
Relational Database Database Management
Definition Database Management
Management System System (generic term)
System

Centralized or
Architecture Centralized Distributed
distributed

Does not inherently Supports replication across Does not inherently

Replication
support replication distributed nodes support replication

Varies based on
Scalability Limited scalability High scalability
implementation
 Feature RDBMS DRDBMS DBMS

Eventual or eventual-plus
Strong consistency Varies based on
Consistency consistency across
model implementation
distributed nodes

MySQL, Google Cloud Spanner, Microsoft Access,

Examples
PostgreSQL, Oracle CockroachDB SQLite, MongoDB

DBMS vs RDBMS:
Feature DBMS RDBMS

Various (Hierarchical, Network,

Data Model Relational
Relational)

Schema Schema-based Schema-based

ACID
Not necessarily ACID-compliant ACID-compliant
Transactions

Normalization Not strictly normalized Encourages normalization

Joins Limited support for joins Strong support for joins

MySQL, PostgreSQL,
Examples SQLite, Microsoft Access
Oracle

DDL vs DML:
Feature DDL DML

Full Form Data Definition Language Data Manipulation Language

Used to define and modify structure of Used to query, insert, update,

Purpose
database objects (e.g., tables) and delete data

SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE,

Examples CREATE, ALTER, DROP
DELETE

Impact Affects structure of database Affects data within the database

Transactionality Generally part of transaction Generally part of transaction

 Feature DDL DML

SELECT, INSERT INTO,

Examples CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE
UPDATE, DELETE FROM