SQL, the name of a database language, stand for Structured Query Language.

The power of SQL comes from the simple structure in the data model on which it is built. The fundamental element in the SQL system is the relational table, which is simply a two-dimensional grid of rows and columns such that all the data elements in a row are related.

For example, a table that holds data about people dedicates one row to each person, where such a row consists of a number of different fields (columns) representing various characteristics of that particular person (name, height, eye color, address, phone number, etc).

A typical SQL database consists of many tables that can be inter-related by way of fields in some tables that 'point to' rows in other tables.

The most basic action for accessing data from a database is the query function. In SQL, a query is performed using the select statement.