SQL

Descriptions: SQL is one of those languages nearly always used inside an application - in SQL's case, a database. Below are 3 open source DBs used in Linux/Unix, some of which are available on Windows.

History: SQL was originally developed by IBM in the mid 1980s. There is an ANSI standard as well as an ISO one. There are 11 versions of SQL. Three are free. Current versions: MySQL (Community Edition) - 5.0, PostgreSQL - 8.1, Firebird - 1.5.2 .

Applications: Database programming.

A German reader named Juergen Auer has 2 useful links on his own site. They are in German but might still be helpful. You need to install the .NET Framework at minimum, which is obtained from Microsoft for free. "I had written two NET-based freeware-tools which might be added to your list of 'Programming Languages / Sql' or 'Development Environments'. The first is an Sql-Interface which allows to execute Sql-Commands interactive against a database. Its helpful to learn Sql without any official product or installation, a sample-database is included. A tutorial, written in german, uses this sample and can be found at SQL-tutorial

The second is the RegEx-Trainer which is helpful to test RegEx-Queries without any programming language. I had written it because sometimes there was a need to check RegEx directly or to load down a webpage and search in the source-code. It can be found at RegEx-Trainer just scroll down to "RegEx-Trainer" once you are on the page.Both tools are NET-tools, so no special installation is required. If the Microsoft Framework is installed, it's enough to unzip the archive in a new folder.

Official Homepages:
MySQL.com home page
postgreSQL
Firebird DB
Newsgroup: comp.databases.postgresql.general
Newsletter/magazine: none
Related links:
SQL Course, part 1 beginner
SQL Course, part 2 intermediate
another SQL tutorial