Here is a clear and practical guide to the SQL CREATE DATABASE statement, with syntax for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle.

✅ What CREATE DATABASE Does

CREATE DATABASE creates a new database on the server.
Inside it, you can then create tables, views, stored procedures, etc.

🔹 ANSI SQL Basic Syntax

Most SQL engines support this form with small variations.

🟦 MySQL — CREATE DATABASE

Create with charset and collation:

Check if database exists:

🟪 PostgreSQL — CREATE DATABASE

Create with owner and encoding:

List databases:

🟧 SQL Server — CREATE DATABASE

Create with file configuration:

🟨 Oracle — CREATE DATABASE

(Usually done via DBCA or admin tools, but SQL is possible.)

⚠ Oracle database creation is complex and typically done by DBAs.

🔥 Selecting / Switching Databases

MySQL:

PostgreSQL:

SQL Server:

🧠 Best Practices

✔ Use meaningful names (e.g., hr_db, inventory, analytics)
✔ Choose consistent character sets (UTF8/UTF8MB4 recommended)
✔ Ensure permissions for the database owner
✔ Follow naming conventions (no spaces, lowercase recommended)
✔ Avoid using reserved keywords as database names