Basic MySQL Interview Questions

1. What is MySQL?
MySQL is a database management system for web servers. It can grow with the website
as it is highly scalable. Most of the websites today are powered by MySQL.

2. What are some of the advantages of using MySQL?

Flexibility: MySQL runs on all operating systems
Power: MySQL focuses on performance
Enterprise-Level SQL Features: MySQL had for some time been lacking in advanced
features such as subqueries, views, and stored procedures.
Full-Text Indexing and Searching
Query Caching: This helps enhance the speed of MySQL greatly
Replication: One MySQL server can be duplicated on another, providing numerous
advantages
Configuration and Security
3. What do you mean by ‘databases’?
A database is a structured collection of data stored in a computer system and
organized in a way to be quickly searched. With databases, information can be
rapidly retrieved.

You can download a PDF version of Mysql Interview Questions.

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4. What does SQL in MySQL stand for?

The SQL in MySQL stands for Structured Query Language. This language is also used
in other databases such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. One can use commands
such as the following to send requests from a database:

SELECT title FROM publications WHERE author = ' J. K. Rowling’;

Note that SQL is not case sensitive. However, it is a good practice to write the
SQL keywords in CAPS and other names and variables in a small case.
You can check out this SQL Tutorial to learn more about SQL.

5. What does a MySQL database contain?

A MySQL database contains one or more tables, each of which contains records or
rows. Within these rows are various columns or fields that contain the data itself.

6. How can you interact with MySQL?

There are three main ways you can interact with MySQL:

using a command line

via a web interface
through a programming language
7. What are MySQL Database Queries?
A query is a specific request or a question. One can query a database for specific
information and have a record returned.

8. What are some of the common MySQL commands?

Command Action
ALTER To alter a database or table
BACKUP To back-up a table
\c To cancel Input
CREATE To create a database
DELETE To delete a row from a table
DESCRIBE To describe a table's columns
DROP To delete a database or table
EXIT(ctrl+c) To exit
GRANT To change user privileges
HELP (\h, \?) Display help
INSERT Insert data
LOCK Lock table(s)
QUIT(\q) Same as EXIT
RENAME Rename a Table
SHOW List details about an object
SOURCE Execute a file
STATUS (\s) Display the current status
TRUNCATE Empty a table
UNLOCK Unlock table(s)
UPDATE Update an existing record
USE Use a database
9. How do you create a database in MySQL?
Use the following command to create a new database called ‘books’:

CREATE DATABASE books;

10. How do you create a table using MySQL?

Use the following to create a table using MySQL:

CREATE TABLE history (

author VARCHAR(128),
title VARCHAR(128),
type VARCHAR(16),
year CHAR(4)) ENGINE InnoDB;
11. How do you Insert Data Into MySQL?
The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a MySQL table:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...)

VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
If we want to add values for all the columns of the table, we do not need to
specify the column names in the SQL query. However, the order of the values should
be in the same order as the columns in the table. The INSERT INTO syntax would be
as follows:

INSERT INTO table_name

VALUES (value1, value2, value3, ...);
12. How do you remove a column from a database?
You can remove a column by using the DROP keyword:

ALTER TABLE classics DROP pages;

13. How to create an Index in MySQL?

In MySQL, there are different index types, such as a regular INDEX, a PRIMARY KEY,
or a FULLTEXT index. You can achieve fast searches with the help of an index.
Indexes speed up performance by either ordering the data on disk so it's quicker to
find your result or, telling the SQL engine where to go to find your data.

Example: Adding indexes to the history table:

ALTER TABLE history ADD INDEX(author(10));

ALTER TABLE history ADD INDEX(title(10));
ALTER TABLE history ADD INDEX(category(5));
ALTER TABLE history ADD INDEX(year);
DESCRIBE history;
14. How to Delete Data From a MySQL Table?
In MySQL, the DELETE statement is used to delete records from a table:
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE column_name = value_name
15. How do you view a database in MySQL?
One can view all the databases on the MySQL server host using the following
command:

mysql> SHOW DATABASES;

16. What are the Numeric Data Types in MySQL?

MySQL has numeric data types for integer, fixed-point, floating-point, and bit
values, as shown in the table below. Numeric types can be signed or unsigned,
except BIT. A special attribute enables the automatic generation of sequential
integer or floating-point column values, which is useful for applications that
require a series of unique identification numbers.

Type Name Meaning

TINYINT Very Small Integer
SMALLINT Small Integer
MEDIUMINT Medium-sized Integer
INT Standard Integer
BIGINT Large Integer
DECIMAL Fixed-point number
FLOAT Single-precision floating-point number
DOUBLE Double-precision floating-point number
BIT Bit-field
17. What are the String Data Types in MySQL?
Type Name Meaning
CHAR fixed-length nonbinary(character) string
VARCHAR variable-length nonbinary string
BINARY fixed-length binary string
VARBINARY variable-length binary string
TINYBLOB Very small BLOB(binary large object)
BLOB Small BLOB
MEDIUMBLOB Medium-sized BLOB
LONGBLOB Large BLOB
TINYTEXT A very small nonbinary string
TEXT Small nonbinary string
MEDIUMTEXT Medium-sized nonbinary string
LONGTEXT Large nonbinary string
ENUM An enumeration; each column value is assigned, one enumeration member
SET A set; each column value is assigned zero or more set members
NULL NULL in SQL is the term used to represent a missing value. A NULL value in a
table is a value in a field that appears to be blank. This value is different than
a zero value or a field that contains spaces.
18. What are the Temporal Data Types in MySQL?
Type Name Meaning
DATE A date value, in ' CCYY-MM-DD ' Format
TIME A Time value, in ' hh : mm :ss ' format
DATETIME Date and time value, in ' CCYY-MM-DD hh : mm :ss ' format
TIMESTAMP A timestamp value, in ' CCYY-MM-DD hh : mm :ss ' format
YEAR A year value, in CCYY or YY format
Example: To select the records with an Order Date of "2018-11-11" from a table:

SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE OrderDate='2018-11-11'

19. What is BLOB in MySQL?
BLOB is an acronym that stands for a binary large object. It is used to hold a
variable amount of data.
There are four types of BLOB:
TINYBLOB
BLOB
MEDIUMBLOB
LONGBLOB
A BLOB can hold a very large amount of data. For example - documents, images, and
even videos. You could store your complete novel as a file in a BLOB if needed.

20. How to add users in MySQL?

You can add a User by using the CREATE command and specifying the necessary
credentials. For example:

CREATE USER ‘testuser’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘sample password’;

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Intermediate MySQL Interview Questions
1. What are MySQL “Views”?
In MySQL, a view consists of a set of rows that is returned if a particular query
is executed. This is also known as a ‘virtual table’. Views make it easy to
retrieve the way of making the query available via an alias.
The advantages of views are:

Simplicity
Security
Maintainability
2. How do you create and execute views in MySQL?
Creating a view is accomplished with the CREATE VIEW statement. As an example:

CREATE
[OR REPLACE]
[ALGORITHM = {MERGE | TEMPTABLE | UNDEFINED }]
[DEFINER = { user | CURRENT_USER }]
[SQL SECURITY { DEFINER | INVOKER }]
VIEW view_name [(column_list)]
AS select_statement
[WITH [CASCADED | LOCAL] CHECK OPTION]
3. What are MySQL Triggers?
A trigger is a task that executes in response to some predefined database event,
such as after a new row is added to a particular table. Specifically, this event
involves inserting, modifying, or deleting table data, and the task can occur
either prior to or immediately following any such event.
Triggers have many purposes, including:

Audit Trails
Validation
Referential integrity enforcement
4. How many Triggers are possible in MySQL?
There are six Triggers allowed to use in the MySQL database:

Before Insert
After Insert
Before Update
After Update
Before Delete
After Delete
5. What is the MySQL server?
The server, mysqld, is the hub of a MySQL installation; it performs all
manipulation of databases and tables.

6. What are the MySQL clients and utilities?

Several MySQL programs are available to help you communicate with the server. For
administrative tasks, some of the most important ones are listed here:

• mysql—An interactive program that enables you to send SQL statements to the
server and to view the results. You can also use mysql to execute batch scripts
(text files containing SQL statements).

• mysqladmin—An administrative program for performing tasks such as shutting down

the server, checking its configuration, or monitoring its status if it appears not
to be functioning properly.

• mysqldump—A tool for backing up your databases or copying databases to another

server.
• mysqlcheck and myisamchk—Programs that help you perform table checking, analysis,
and optimization, as well as repairs if tables become damaged. mysqlcheck works
with MyISAM tables and to some extent with tables for other storage engines.
myisamchk is for use only with MyISAM tables.

7. What are the types of relationships used in MySQL?

There are three categories of relationships in MySQL:

One-to-One: Usually, when two items have a one-to-one relationship, you just
include them as columns in the same table.
One-to-Many: One-to-many (or many-to-one) relationships occur when one row in one
table is linked to many rows in another table.
Many-to-Many: In a many-to-many relationship, many rows in one table are linked to
many rows in another table. To create this relationship, add a third table
containing the same key column from each of the other tables
Advanced MySQL Interview Questions
1. Can you explain the logical architecture of MySQL?
The top layer contains the services most network-based client/server tools or
servers need such as connection handling, authentication, security, and so forth.
The second layer contains much of MySQL’s brains. This has the code for query
parsing, analysis, optimization, caching, and all the built-in functions.

The third layer contains the storage engines that are responsible for storing and
retrieving the data stored in MySQL.

2. What is Scaling in MySQL?

In MySQL, scaling capacity is actually the ability to handle the load, and it’s
useful to think of load from several different angles such as:

Quantity of data
Number of users
User activity
Size of related datasets
3. What is Sharding in SQL?
The process of breaking up large tables into smaller chunks (called shards) that
are spread across multiple servers is called Sharding.
The advantage of Sharding is that since the sharded database is generally much
smaller than the original; queries, maintenance, and all other tasks are much
faster.

4. What are Transaction Storage Engines in MySQL?

To be able to use MySQL’s transaction facility, you have to be using MySQL’s InnoDB
storage engine (which is the default from version 5.5 onward). If you are not sure
which version of MySQL your code will be running on, rather than assuming InnoDB is
the default engine you can force its use when creating a table, as follows.

Conclusion
1. Conclusion
Several free or low-cost database management systems are available from which to
choose, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite.

When you compare MySQL with other database systems, think about what’s most
important to you. Performance, features (such as SQL conformance or extensions),
support, licensing conditions, and price all are factors to take into account.

MySQL is one of the best RDBMS being used for developing various web-based software
applications.
MySQL is offered under two different editions: the open-source MySQL Community
Server and the proprietary Enterprise Server.
Given these considerations, MySQL has many attractive qualities:

Speed
Ease of use
Query language support
Capability
Connectivity and security
Portability
Availability and cost
Open distribution and source code
Few MySQL References:

https://www.mysql.com
https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-mysql/0596008643/
Recommended Resources

Database Testing Interview Questions

Technical Interview Questions
PostgreSQL vs MySQL
SQL Vs MySQL
MongoDB vs MySQL
MySQL MCQ Questions
1.
Character data can be stored as __

Fixed length string

Variable length string

Either Fixed or Variable length string

None of the above

2.
MySQL supports different character sets. Which command is used to display all
character sets?

SHOW CHARACTER SET;

SHOW;

CHARACTER SET;

None of the above

3.
Which among the following have the maximum bytes?

Varchar

Char

Text type

Both Varchar and Char

4.
MySQL is capable of reading input from a file in batch mode. This is also known as
the non-interactive mode. A lot of typing and time can be saved when commands are
stored in a file and executed from a file.
Is the above statement True or False?

True

False
5.
Which of the following is not a characteristic of MySQL?

Open Source

Portability

Slow speed

Ease of use
6.
Which of the following commands is used to create a database in MySQL?

MAKE DATABASE db_name;

MAKE DATABASE

CREATE DATABASE db_name;

CREATE DATABASE
7.
The connection parameters for setting up MySQL can be stored in an option file to
save typing the names every time a connection is established.

True

False
8.
What exports table definitions and contents in MySQL?

mysqladmin

mysqlimport

mysqldump

mysqlexport
9.
Which of the following commands will you use to load data files into tables?

mysqlimport

mysqldump
mysqlexport

mysqladmin
10.
Which declaration represents that “character data will consume the same number of
bytes as declared and is right padded”?

Char

Varchar

Both Char and Varchar

None of the above

11.
Which one is the correct declaration for choosing the character set other than
default?

Varchar(20) character set;

Varchar(20) character set utf8;

Varchar(20);

None of the above

12.
In MySQL, what does a fully qualified table name consist of?

only the table name

only the database name

table name followed by database name

database name followed by table name

13.
Which of the following MySQL statements is valid if `sampledb` is a database and
‘tbl’ is a table in it?

SELECT * FROM `sampledb.member`

SELECT * FROM `sampledb`.`member`

SELECT * FROM `member`.`sampledb`

SELECT * FROM `member.sampledb`