1.5. MySQL Applications

According to our definition, a database is an organized collection of data that serves some purpose. Simply having MySQL up and running is not sufficient to give your database a purpose. How you use the data you put in your MySQL database defines its purpose. Imagine a library where nobody ever reads the books. There would not be much point in storing and organizing all those books if they're never used. Now, imagine a library where you could not change or add to the collection. The utility of the library as a database would decrease over time since obsolete books could never be replaced and new books could never be added. In short, a library exists so that people may read the books and find the information they seek.

Databases exist so that people can interact with them. In the case of electronic databases, the interaction occurs not directly with the database, but indirectly through software applications. Before the emergence of the World Wide Web, databases typically were used by large corporations to support various business functions: accounting and finance, shipping and inventory control, manufacturing planning, human resources, and so on. The Web and more complex home computing tasks have helped move the need for database applications outside the realm of the large corporation.