CREATE DATABASE

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the MySQL CREATE DATABASE statement to create a new database on a MySQL server.

Introduction to the MySQL CREATE DATABASE statement

To create a new database in MySQL, you use the CREATE DATABASE statement. The following illustrates the basic syntax of the CREATE DATABASE statement:

CREATE DATABASE [IF NOT EXISTS] database_name
[CHARACTER SET charset_name]
[COLLATE collation_name];

In this syntax:

• First, specify the name of the database after the CREATE DATABASE keywords. The database name must be unique within a MySQL server instance. If you attempt to create a database with an existing name, MySQL will issue an error.
• Second, use the IF NOT EXISTS option to create a database if it doesn’t exist conditionally.
• Third, specify the character set and collation for the new database. If you skip the CHARACTER SET and COLLATE clauses, MySQL will use the default character set and collation for the new database.