1. Introduction

   1. Chapter 1 Introduction

      1. Why Is MySQL so Popular?
      2. Elements of MySQL and Its Environment
      3. MySQL Software Covered in This Book
      4. The Book’s Web Site

   2. Chapter 2 Installing MySQL

      1. Installation Choices and Platforms
      2. Using the Command-Line Interface
      3. Using a Text Editor
      4. Following the Instructions in This Book
      5. Downloading and Verifying Files from the MySQL AB Web Site
      6. Installing Under Linux
      7. Installing Under Windows
      8. Installing Under Mac OS X
      9. Using a MySQL Installation Provided by an ISP
      10. Upgrading an Existing MySQL Server
      11. Configuring Access to the MySQL Server
      12. What If Things Don’t Work?
      13. The Contents of the MySQL Directory
      14. Configuring and Controlling the Apache Web Server
      15. Setting up Perl
      16. Resources
      17. Exercises

   3. Chapter 3 Using the MySQL Monitor

      1. Starting the Monitor
      2. Style, Case, and Semicolons
      3. The Monitor Help
      4. Running the Monitor in Batch Mode
      5. Loading the Sample Databases
      6. MySQL Monitor Program Options
      7. Graphical Clients
      8. Exercises

2. Using MySQL

   1. Chapter 4 Modeling and Designing Databases

      1. How Not to Develop a Database
      2. The Database Design Process
      3. The Entity Relationship Model
      4. Entity Relationship Modeling Examples
      5. Using the Entity Relationship Model
      6. Using Tools for Database Design
      7. Resources
      8. Exercises

   2. Chapter 5 Basic SQL

      1. Using the Music Database
      2. The SELECT Statement and Basic Querying Techniques
      3. The INSERT Statement
      4. The DELETE Statement
      5. The UPDATE Statement
      6. Exploring Databases and Tables with SHOW and mysqlshow
      7. Exercises

   3. Chapter 6 Working with Database Structures

      1. Creating and Using Databases
      2. Creating Tables
      3. The Sample Music Database
      4. Altering Structures
      5. Deleting Structures
      6. Exercises

   4. Chapter 7 Advanced Querying

      1. Aliases
      2. Aggregating Data
      3. Advanced Joins
      4. Nested Queries
      5. User Variables
      6. Transactions and Locking
      7. Table Types
      8. Exercises

   5. Chapter 8 Doing More with MySQL

      1. Inserting Data Using Queries
      2. Loading Data from Comma-Delimited Files
      3. Writing Data into Comma-Delimited Files
      4. Creating Tables with Queries
      5. Updates and Deletes with Multiple Tables
      6. Replacing Data
      7. The EXPLAIN Statement
      8. Exercises

   6. Chapter 9 Managing Users and Privileges

      1. Understanding Users and Privileges
      2. Creating and Using New Users
      3. Privileges
      4. The GRANT OPTION Privilege
      5. How Privileges Interact
      6. Users and Hosts
      7. Checking Privileges
      8. Revoking Privileges
      9. Removing Users
      10. Understanding and Changing Passwords
      11. The Default Users
      12. Devising a User Security Policy
      13. Managing Privileges with SQL
      14. Privileges and Performance
      15. Resetting Forgotten MySQL Passwords
      16. Exercises

3. Advanced Topics

   1. Chapter 10 Backups and Recovery

      1. Dumping a Database as SQL Statements
      2. Loading Data from an SQL Dump File
      3. mysqlhotcopy
      4. Scheduling Backups
      5. The Binary Log
      6. Checking and Repairing Corrupted Tables
      7. Re-Creating Damaged Grant Tables
      8. Resources
      9. Exercises

   2. Chapter 11 Using an Options File

      1. Configuring Options for the MySQL Monitor
      2. Structure of the Options File
      3. Scope of Options
      4. Search Order for Options Files
      5. Determining the Options in Effect
      6. Exercises

   3. Chapter 12 Configuring and Tuning the Server

      1. The MySQL Server Daemon
      2. Server Variables
      3. Checking Server Settings
      4. Other Things to Consider
      5. Resources
      6. Exercises

4. Web Database Applications with PHP

   1. Chapter 13 Web Database Applications

      1. Building a Web Database Application
      2. The Apache Web Server
      3. Introducing PHP
      4. Using a PHP-Enabled Web Hosting Site
      5. Resources
      6. Exercises

   2. Chapter 14 PHP

      1. Language Basics
      2. Accessing MySQL Using PHP
      3. Modularizing Code
      4. Processing and Using User Data
      5. The PHP Predefined Superglobal Variables
      6. Untainting User Data
      7. Sessions
      8. The Reload Problem
      9. Using PHP for Command-Line Scripts
      10. Resources
      11. Exercises

   3. Chapter 15 A PHP Application: The Wedding Gift Registry

      1. Designing and Creating the Wedding Database
      2. The Login Form
      3. Passing a Message to a Script
      4. Logging Users In and Out
      5. The db.php Include File
      6. Editing the List of Gifts
      7. Loading Sample Gifts
      8. Listing Gifts for Selection
      9. Selecting and Deselecting Gifts
      10. Resources
      11. Exercises

5. Interacting with MySQL Using Perl

   1. Chapter 16 Perl

      1. Writing Your First Perl Program
      2. Scripting With Perl
      3. Resources
      4. Exercises

   2. Chapter 17 Using Perl with MySQL

      1. Connecting to the MySQL Server and Database
      2. Handling Errors When Interacting with the Database
      3. Using Queries That Return Answer Sets
      4. Using Queries That Don’t Return Answer Sets
      5. Binding Queries and Variables
      6. Importing and Exporting Data
      7. Handling NULL Values
      8. Resources
      9. Exercises

   3. Chapter 18 Serving Perl Pages to the Web

      1. The Perl CGI Module
      2. Processing User Input
      3. A Note on mod_perl
      4. Perl Security
      5. Resources
      6. Exercises

6. Appendix

   1. Appendix The Wedding Registry Code

1. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The type of butterfly on the cover of Learning MySQL is the blue spotted crow (euploea midamus). One of more than 15,000 species of butterfly, this member of the brush-footed family Nymphalidae (which also is home to the Monarch) is native to the Orient and can be found in a region that spreads from Afghanistan to Australia. As its name suggests, the crow is distinguished by its blue tint, as well as a series of white spots that line the hind edge of its large wings.

In the course of their lives, butterflies go through four development stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Butterfly eggs, ovate or spherical in shape, are attached to leaves by a powerful, quickly hardening glue until they hatch. In the larval stage, butterflies are commonly referred to as caterpillars, and their bodies are divided into many small segments, each possessing up to four pairs of legs. Caterpillars have insatiable appetites, feeding practically nonstop on plant matter and molting approximately four or five times before becoming pupae. At this third phase, the caterpillar becomes a chrysalis, typically cleaving to the underside of a leaf. The chrysalis then consumes foodstuffs that enable it to develop its wing structures and make the metamorphosis into an adult butterfly. In this final stage of development, the butterfly is known as an imago, a four-winged creature with six legs. Imagos subsist mainly on flower nectar; some supplement their diets with nutrients from sap, pollen, rotten fruit, or dung.

In Japanese culture, butterflies are somewhat paradoxically mythologized as both harbingers of prosperity and impending doom. One superstition stipulates that a single butterfly flying into one's bedroom presages the arrival of one's dearest love, while an encounter with a swarm of butterflies is thought to be a precursor to ominous events.

The cover image is from Cassell's Natural History. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed.