What is a database?
A database is software that stores and organises information so an application can save, search, and update it reliably.
A database is the part of an application that remembers things. When you sign up for a service, your name, email, and preferences are written to a database. When you log back in months later, they are still there, ready to be loaded. Without a database an app would forget everything the moment you closed it.
Most databases look like a collection of tables, similar to spreadsheet tabs. Each table holds rows of related information, like one row per user or one row per order. Applications send queries to the database to ask for the rows they need, or to add and update them.
When you build with AI tools, the AI will often help you sketch a database schema, write the queries, and connect the database to your app. You stay in charge of decisions like what to store and how long to keep it.
Example
A "users" table might have columns: id, email, full_name, created_at. Each signup adds one row.
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