SQL (/ˌɛsˌkjuːˈɛl/ (About this soundlisten) S-Q-L, /ˈsiːkwəl/ "sequel"; Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS). It is particularly useful in handling structured data, i.e. data incorporating relations among entities and variables.