Robert Sheldon continues a series on getting started with MySQL:
Like other database management systems, MySQL lets you create views that enable users and applications to retrieve data without providing them direct access to the underlying tables. You can think of a view as a predefined query that MySQL runs when the view is invoked. MySQL stores the view definition as a database object, similar to a table object.
Read on for plenty of detail around views. Even if you know how views work in another RDBMS, there are nuances to each of them you’ll want to understand.