Structured Query Language (SQL) has established itself as generic data definition, manipulation, and query language for relational data. It has been adopted by almost all relational database management systems. Besides constructs on inserting, updating, retrieving, and deleting data, the constructs also define transactional constructs to ensure ACID semantics and do joins (see the Views section).

A detailed description of SQL is outside the scope of this book. To learn more about SQL, try doing a quick Google search for SQL syntax and tutorials, or consult any of the many books on the subject.