There's a lot more to the MySQL database system and the SQL language than the few basic commands we've looked at here, but these commands are by far the most commonly used. So far we've only worked with a single table. To realize the true power of a relational database, we'll also need to learn how to use multiple tables together to represent potentially complex relationships between database entities.
We'll cover all this and more in "Relational Database Design", where we'll discuss database design principles, and look at some more advanced examples. For now, though, we've accomplished our objective, and you can comfortably interact with MySQL using the command line interface. In "Getting Started with PHP", the fun continues as we delve into the PHP server-side scripting language, and use it to create dynamic Web pages. If you like, you can practice with MySQL a little before you move on, by creating a decent-sized Jokes table — this knowledge will come in handy in "Publishing MySQL Data on the Web"!