Brief History of Database Systems
- 1092
The concept of databases was introduced in the 1960s. Since then, a lot of work has been done in this field. Following is a brief discussion about the history of the database.
1960's
In the 1960s, computers became cost-effective for companies, and the storage capacity of computers increased. Two main data models were developed:
- Network model (CODASYL)
- Hierarchical (MS)
Access to the database was through low-level pointer operations. Storage details depended on the type of data to be stored. Thus adding an extra field to your database requires rewriting the underlying access/modification scheme. Emphasis was on records to be processed, not the overall structure of the system. A user would need to know the physical structure of the database in order to query for information. One major commercial success was the SABRE system from IBM and American Airlines.
1970-72
E.F. Codd proposed the relational model for databases in a landmark paper on how to think about databases. He disconnects the schema (logical organization) of a database from the physical storage methods. This system has become standard since then.
1970's
Two main- prototypes for relational systems were developed during 1974-77. These provide a nice example of how theory leads to best practice.
- Ingres: Developed at UCB. This ultimately led to Ingres Corp. Sybase, MS SQL Server, Britten-Lee, Wang’s PACE. This system used a SEQUEL as a query language.
- System R: Developed at IBM San Jose and led to IBM's SQL/DS & DB2, Oracle, HP's All base, Tandem‘s Non-Stop SQL. This system used a SEQUEL as a query language.
1976
P. Chen proposed the Entity-Relationship (ER) model for database design. It gave another important insight into conceptual data models. Such higher-level modeling allows the designer to concentrate on the use of data instead of a logical table structure.
Early 1980's
In the early 1980s, the commercialization of relational systems took place.
Mid 1980's
SQL (Structured Query Language) became a standard. IBM launched DB2. The importance of network and hierarchical models was decreased. The PC development of the IBM gave rise to many DB companies and products such as RIM, RBASE 5000, PARADOX, OS/2 Database Manager, Dbase III, IV (later FoxBASE, even later Visual FoxPro), and Watcom SQL.
Early 1990's
In the early 1990s, much work was done on client tools for application development such as PowerBuilder (Sybase), Oracle Developer, VB (Microsoft), etc. The client-server model for computing became the norm for future business decisions. The work on Object Database Management Systems (ODBMS) prototypes also started during this period.
Mid 1990's
The usable Internet/WWW appeared in the middle of 1990. It allowed remote access to computer systems. The concept of Web/DB started to grow.
Late 1990's
Internet companies worked for Web/Internet/DB connectors. Active Server Pages, FrontPage, Java Servlets, JDBC, Enterprise Java Beans, ColdFusion, Dream Weaver Oracle Developer 2000, etc are examples of such offerings. The open-source solutions came online with the widespread use of cgi, Apache, MySQL, etc. Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and online analytic processing (OLAP) comes of age with many merchants using point-of-sale (POS) technology on a daily basis.
Early 21st Century
The growth of DB applications continued in the early 21" century. More interactive applications appeared with the use of PDAs. The main companies that predominated the large DB market are IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Future Trends
Huge (terabyte) systems are appearing and fine handling and analyzing data has become very complex. Large science databases such as genome projects, geological, national security, and space exploration data have been developed. Data mining data warehousing data marts are commonly used techniques today. This trend will continue in the future.
XML with Java has become a popular technique. The mobile database is now coming to the market in various ways. Distributed transaction processing is also becoming very popular for business planning in many areas.
