intro
In this blog, we’re walking you through a set of guidelines that will empower you to build a secure and performant SQL script for your use case. Dig in!
If you’ve ever built an application that interacted with any database, you know first-hand just how important it is to write secure and performant SQL code. An SQL script that’s riddled with syntax errors won’t execute, a script that’s running on a database that doesn’t support the ACID principles won’t survive electricity going down, and a script that’s running on a non-properly optimized database will likely take ages to execute, too. What do you do to avoid these things? Right — adhere to guidelines that help you develop and work with SQL scripts!
Basic Guidelines for a Secure & Performant SQL Script
Everything has a beginning. The same can be said about an SQL script. Some would say that SQL scripts originate from the code that is written in an application, and that is partly correct — but we’ll dig deeper than that. We would argue that every script in SQL begins in your head: you think about the code you need to write, don’t you?
That’s why guidelines also begin with basic things and only then touch upon applications and/or databases connected to them: what do you need to accomplish? What’s your use case and why are you writing an SQL script in the first place?
After you’re well aware of the use case surrounding your script, it’s time to dig into its implementation. Only now do we come to things like OWASP for application security, GDPR and NIST standards, and so on. After all, you know what you’re trying to accomplish, so you know what data your application will be working with, how, when, and so on.
When writing a script in SQL, follow these basic steps:
These things will be a good starting point, but to make your script fast and secure even in the most demanding circumstances, you need to be aware of a couple more things — we’ll walk you through them now.
CRUD Queries and ACID Compliance
You have your use case. Now, what does your SQL script actually do? Every script does something. Something of value: and that something of value frequently manifests itself in the form of SQL queries known as CRUD — queries that either Create, Read, Update, or Delete data. So, how do your scripts act on data?
Aside from the CRUD queries, ACID compliance would also be of paramount importance — ACID compliance would ensure that the queries you run won’t break your database in case electricity goes out or your network dies in the middle of a query being run.
To ensure your database is ACID compliant, identify the database management system in use, the parameter that adheres to ACID compliance (in MySQL and related DBMS, this parameter is called innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit
), and its options denoting ACID compliance or exchanging it for speed.
In MySQL, the default option — 1
— makes your database ACID compliant, and other options (0
or 2
) will make INSERT
queries faster at the exchange of up to one second’s worth of data being lost if the database crashes.
Other Things You Should Know
Aside from ACID and query optimization, other things help your SQL script succeed, too! These are as follows:

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Summary
An SQL script is a file that consists of many SQL queries executed by your database. SQL queries, as such, are tasks contained of a bunch of subtasks that must each be executed for your scripts to be marked as a success by your database.
We hope that this blog has helped you better understand what makes scripts tick — explore more blogs in our TheTable blog section and until next time.
FAQ
What is an SQL Script?
An SQL script is a file that consists of SQL queries that are then executed by your database.
What does CRUD stand for?
CRUD stands for four database queries (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) that can be executed by your database. These SQL queries are often found within your SQL script.
What does ACID stand for?
ACID stands for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability. These four database properties ensure that the data within your database remains intact no matter what external factors may impact your server, your database, or anything in between.