I think I found the answer:
First: Get a newer compiler/IDE 😛 Visual Studio 2017 Community works lol Same with QT IDE. Both have database functionality to connect and use them. In Visual Studio, you’ll find both ODBC connectivity depending on what you use (MFC or wxWidgets or even Windows API) as well as the MySQL connector/driver and API to directly control the database. I personally prefer ODBC or some other platform / database independent method but whatever. wxWidgets and QT both have similar classes and methods to connect and use a database as do most languages. Windows API I’m not sure but that might be an option too but you’ll have to look into it.