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To understand the present impact of
SQL, it helps to understand how it came about.
Remember, the idea behind relational databases was that the database management system
(DBMS) would itself keep track of all table relationships independent of hardware or outside
programming languages. Thus a language to query data from multiple tables could be much
more high level and easy to use. Dr. E.F. Codd, the IBM researcher described such a language,
calling it Structured English QUEry Language (or SEQUEL). Later the name was shortened to
just Structured Query Language (SQL).
Codd’s ideas quickly caught on. Several companies began working on DBMSs to implement
the relational concept. The first systems to hit the market in the late 1970s were Oracle, Relational
Technology’s Ingres, and IBM’s System/R. All of them used a version of SQL to manipulate
the data and database structures. With IBM’s market dominance, SQL quickly caught on
and IBM’s version of SQL became the de facto standard.
The computer industry saw a need to bring all the versions of SQL together into a standard
that everyone could adopt. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), one of the major
standards bodies in the United States representing 1,000 companies, organizations, and government
agencies, headed up this effort. The first SQL standard (called SQL89) was released in
1989. The SQL specification has since been revised twice with SQL92 (in 1992) and SQL99 (in
1999).
One advantage of SQL being an open standard is that SQL programmers can transport their
skill to any DBMS. Also, it allows specific databases to be ported to other DBMSs with only
minor changes to the SQL code.
SQL, it helps to understand how it came about.
Remember, the idea behind relational databases was that the database management system
(DBMS) would itself keep track of all table relationships independent of hardware or outside
programming languages. Thus a language to query data from multiple tables could be much
more high level and easy to use. Dr. E.F. Codd, the IBM researcher described such a language,
calling it Structured English QUEry Language (or SEQUEL). Later the name was shortened to
just Structured Query Language (SQL).
Codd’s ideas quickly caught on. Several companies began working on DBMSs to implement
the relational concept. The first systems to hit the market in the late 1970s were Oracle, Relational
Technology’s Ingres, and IBM’s System/R. All of them used a version of SQL to manipulate
the data and database structures. With IBM’s market dominance, SQL quickly caught on
and IBM’s version of SQL became the de facto standard.
The computer industry saw a need to bring all the versions of SQL together into a standard
that everyone could adopt. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), one of the major
standards bodies in the United States representing 1,000 companies, organizations, and government
agencies, headed up this effort. The first SQL standard (called SQL89) was released in
1989. The SQL specification has since been revised twice with SQL92 (in 1992) and SQL99 (in
1999).
One advantage of SQL being an open standard is that SQL programmers can transport their
skill to any DBMS. Also, it allows specific databases to be ported to other DBMSs with only
minor changes to the SQL code.
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