Q:

Accessing data from MySQL

I need to import data from an excel file into MySQL and then access the data and display it. Can someone give me an idea as to how i should go about this? Also can someone brief me about the hardware/software requirements(MySQL version to be installed) for this task?

A:

Is this a testing/setup requirement or is it a business requirement that the application should be able to load data from excel files? 
In first case I would simply convert it to CSV and import the data using mysqlimport 
or use a GUI tool like SQLYog.
Software: SQLYog (Free Community Edition), mysqlimport (comes with MySQL)
In second case, I would use Apache POI.
Software: Apache POI (Free and Open Source)
BTW it is also possible to create a ODBC data source using a excel file. You can use JDBC-ODBC bridge to access it.
Hardware: No special hardware requirement. 

