SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It’s a standard language for accessing and manipulating databases. MySQL is a database management system, like SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, Postgres, etc.

Stored Procedures Vs. Prepared Statements in PHP and MySQL. The PHP development language provides you with a "prepare" function to send a prepared statement to a SQL database.

Since MariaDB is a fork from MySQL, the syntax is similar, but MariaDB has several additional features. Basic SQL syntax remains the same, but MariaDB handles data storage and functions differently.