what is the difference between ms access, sql, and oracle?

Answer 1

Apologies for the previous answers, which are either garbage or nonsense.

They are all right in the sense that all three are relational databases. That's about the only thing they got right.

All three also use Structured Query Language, or SQL, to manipulate data and to manage how they work. However, all three use different implementations of SQL. Access used a modified form of Transact-SQL. SQL Server (which you probably mean when you say SQL) uses Transact-SQL. And Oracle uses PL/SQL. While similar, the languages are not the same.

Access is a simple-to-use, desktop-program implementation of Microsoft's core database technology. It works within the familar Office interface and provides extensive GUI tools for management. It can even be used as a GUI for other databases, including SQL Server and Oracle.

(It is not "multi-user," as another answerer stated. Anyone who's ever tried to share an Access DB that someone else was editing a table in could tell you that.)

Access is the least powerful and efficient of the three. It is sufficient for small jobs, such as managing a telephone directory / contact list, handling sales reporting for a small company, etc. It becomes noticeably less efficient and larger the more data you put into it.

SQL Server is Microsoft's large-scale relational database management system. It is vastly more efficient in terms of performance and storage versus Access. However, it is also more difficult to manage because, where the aim of Access is to make RDBMS simple, the aim of SQL Server is to make it elegant (although anyone who's tried to use Microsoft's optimization tools would probably take issue with the idea that SQL Server is elegant).

Oracle is a different RDBMS. It uses different fundamentals to store and work with data, and PL/SQL is a much different language than Transact-SQL; PL/SQL is more a hybrid of a command-line shell and SQL than it is a pure query language. Like SQL Server, Oracle is very powerful and flexible. Unlike SQL Server, it has proven to be more survivable and reliable.

I'd get more specific but you'd start suffering from MEGO (my eyes glaze over), because it's mostly technical differences that aren't really all that important to all but the most data-intensive organizations.

Answer 2

Microsoft Access, is a relational database management system from Microsoft which combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface. Which is very user friendly.

Data accessed through SQL, or Structured Query Language. SQL allows you to SELECT your data, INSERT new records, UPDATE existing records and DELETE records you want to get rid of. SQL can be embedded in other languages or you can run scripts of SQL directly against the database.

Oracle is made up of a set of processes running in your operating system. These processes manage how data is stored and how it is accessed. Oracle is a program that is running in the background, maintaining your data for you and figuring out where it should go on your hard drive.

Answer 3

Access is a desktop multi-user database from Microsoft. (While not very robust, Acess *is* multi-user if you configure it correctly. However, it implements block locking, not record locking, and is thus less efficient and more prone to lock collisions)

SQL is abbreviation for "structured query language", a standard language used by databases to create/edit tables and query/update data. (Microsoft SQL Server is something else entirely)

Oracle is a company that writes business applications, based on its proprietary database engine of the same name, plus a version number. If you want to know about Oracle database, specify which edition you want to talk about. Oracle also publishes a wide variety of Enterprise software, including PeopleSoft and J.D.Edwards OneWorld. So you can't just say "Oracle" and expect people to know what you are talking about. Oracle is a company (or someone who predicts things).

EDITED to expand/clarify answers. Unlike other answers, I don't *guess* at the Asker's "intent".

Answer 4

MS Access is a RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) produced by Microsoft.

Oracle is a company. It produces business application software, like financial systems. It also has its own proprietary RDBMS, which is probably the most robust and widely used on the market.

SQL is a database access language used by most RDBMSs. It is not a RDBMS itself. Some seem to be getting confused with things like MSSQLServer. There is a standard SQL and most RDBMS providers have their own modifications to it.

Answer 5

Theyre all databases

Ms Access is more user friendly

From what ive seen the syntax is pretty much the same...coding wise....

SQL is most popular with web builders

And ive never seen, nor used, and oracle db....

Answer 6

The size of the database that they are designed to handel effectively is the biggest difference. Why not add MySql into the mix, its opensource (free)

Answer 7

I agree with the first response. They are definitely an "apple to apple" comparison, not an "apple to oranges" comparison. They are just different flavors of the same thing.

Answer 8

the difference is scalability