SQL

SQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard language for working with relational databases — querying, inserting, updating, and deleting data.

Core operations

Commands like SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE let you read and modify records precisely. JOINs combine information from multiple tables into a single result.

Why it matters

Measurement data, production metrics, master data — anywhere structured data needs to be stored durably and queried, a relational database, and therefore SQL, is usually behind it.

Ubiquity

Nearly every mainstream database system — from small local databases to large enterprise systems — understands some dialect of SQL, making it one of the longest-lived standards in computing.