What does mysql -u root -p mean while logging in?

Question

I am new to using Mysql and I do not understand what does -u and -p imply?

Answer 1

These are command line options passed to mysql.

-u stands for the username and -p stands for the password

Whatever comes immediately after -u will be the username and after you press Return you need to enter your password (the password won't be visible and you need to type in your complete password followed by again a Return, you won't see * too in place of the password, it would be completely invisible).

See the manual page of mysql for more.

Answer 2

-u root says root is the user and -p will ask for a password.