We've approach the beast itself: SQL. Or, as it used to be known, SEQUEL. In this episode we will discuss how early navigational databases failed, and how we were able to move past them into a relational future. It's a fascinating tale about how careful research and planning can lead to much better tools.

 

Selected sources:

 

https://www.seas.upenn.edu/~zives/03f/cis550/codd.pdf -- Dr. Codd on relational databases

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212100/http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/people/chamberlin/sequel-1974.pdf -- The first SEQUEL paper

 

https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~brewer/cs262/SystemR.pdf -- A History and Evaluation of System R