As we mentioned, MySQL is a database system for storing and retrieving data. The steps to install MySQL freshly are beyond the depths of these tutorials, luckily lots of people have made this process simple for you - we recommend XAMPP which will give you local access to MySQL, PHP and Apache web server with just a few clicks.

XAMPP also installs phpMyAdmin, an invaluable tool which allows you to administer your database, run queries and perform diagnostics on your database from a management console. We'd recommend you find out how to access this immediately (probably http://localhost/phpMyAdmin/, but check your documentation) so that you can create test databases to learn with.

If you have anything to contribute to this tutorial, found a bug, or know a better way of achieving the same goal, please leave your response below.