What is phpMyAdmin?
PhpMyAdmin is an open source tool for simple database administration. Its purpose is for managing MySQL and MariaDB. It is presented as a graphical interface accessible via a web browser. Accordingly, it is client-side compatible with different operating systems: Windows, Unix, MacOS X. The phpMyAdmin software is a widely used tool, even translated into more than 58 languages. The large community of phpMyAdmin actively participates in the development and maintenance of the latter. The phpMyAdmin Project is the administrator of the project.
What is the purpose of phpMyAdmin?
A database is the element in which data is organized. It is the database management system (DBMS) that allows its management. On account of it, we can for example, create a database, enrich it, name it or else delete it. Therefore, in order to easily organize and manage a large amount of information,we use database and DBMS together. The DBMS communicates with the database and the user communicates with the DBMS. The user connects to it via the console in order to give instructions. However, the novice does not always have the technical knowledge, as a result, he will not be able to interact with the database. On the other hand, administration via the console can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for performing simple tasks.
Therefore, PhpMyAdmin comes to the rescue in order to solve this problem. It combines efficiency and simplicity. Thanks to it, the beginner and any experienced person can easily understand MySQL and MariaDB. This does not mean that we can work without the console. Some complex requests are not feasible through phpMyAdmin. However, the phpMyAdmin maintenance team makes sure to improve and add functionality every year.
PhpMyAdmin has several features, including a non-exhaustive list below:
- Maintenance of the DBMS, databases and tables.
- Managing users and their privileges.
- Import and export of data in various formats.
- The enrichment of tables.
- Access to multiple instances of MySQL or MariaDB from a single interface.
What are the other alternatives to this software?
phpMyAdmin is the best known and widely used database management tool. It owes its popularity partly to web hosts who make it available to users on their web hosting plans. However, you may need to use other tools out of curiosity or because of other constraints.
- Administer. Formerly known as PhpMinAdmin. It also works with other DBMS like PostgreSQL.
- Sidu. It offers a wide range of features and supports any DBMS supported by PDO. However, it does not exist in French.
- MyWebSql. Much like phpMyAdmin, it is limited to MySQL and MariaDB. It is also available as a plugin for WordPress
- SQL Buddy. It offers a nice selection of themes but not a lot of features.