SQL views evaluate the data in the tables underlying the view’s definition when they’re queried. So, the benefit of using SQL views is that they always return the latest data.

yes, use the info_schema views because they are 'standard' and the system tables are not. They should also be easier to deal with than the system tables [at least in my experience].

A reader recently pointed out to me that I could drastically simplify that retrieval code by leveraging SQL views. A SQL view pulls together multiple tables (and selected columns from those tables) ...