SQL and Your App

For those just starting their coding journey in app development whether for iOS or Android choosing what you need to know can be a daunting task. Which language to learn? What UI and UX concepts should be focused on? For those developing apps, more questions need to be answered. How do I access user data? How can data be stored and accessed efficiently to make the feature set truly stand out?

SQL and the Beginner

As alluded to above if you are just starting on your coding journey choosing languages and supplementary technologies is a daunting task. Monthly articles surface as to what the best or most popular languages are but they lack detailed information. The same can be said for frameworks and supplementary technologies. What makes matters worse is new technology is constantly being developed that seems to just add to the confusion of those starting out.

Rather than giving you several trends and popular languages, this article is intended to clear up any misconceptions regarding SQL. First, it is often asked whether SQL can be used to develop apps. Here the answer is a definite no. Before your heart sinks to the floor, it is important to note that SQL is a supplementary technology, it is powerful but it is not a one-stop shop for app development. Rather, it allows app developers to create and manage databases.

Data for the App

In many instances, as the more experienced developers reading this article will know, apps are often just a database hidden behind impressive UI. Even where apps perform other functions they make use of databases to store customer information which in turn can be used to develop better marketing campaigns via the use of analytics. To do this the data needs to be readily available and SQL is the tool for that. In the wild, lot of developers have found that SQL is the perfect supplement to a Java interface with SQL being able to feed data to the app. There is one important thing to remember though as SQL’s major currency it is important backup SQL database.

Ease of Use

SQL can’t really be considered a programming language in the same sense that Java, C#, and Python are. Developers will often compare SQL, or Structured Query Language to give the full name to the technology, to HTML in that it is designed to be a simple language to fulfill the desired end. In the case of HTML, it provides the structure to web pages. SQL is a data management language that helps users, and developers, to easily access specific data stored in databases. This is primarily done by inserting data into specific tables so that the data can be easily accessed when required. This makes the language both easy to learn as well as easy to use.

Conclusion

While SQL is not the answer to all an app developers’ prayers, it is a great tool for data management that is both easy to learn and use. For those just starting on their coding journey SQL can be learned in conjunction with other languages and fills the gap between a pretty looking app to one that is both pretty and functional.