Re: Is SQL silly as an RDBMS<->app interface?

On Sun, 2003-07-13 at 10:17, nolan@celery.tssi.com wrote:
> > I understand that SQL is the interface between apps and RDBMS's because
> > of history, not because it is correct design.  Could you point me to a
> > link or book or paper that deals with this paradox? Thanks!
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by 'correct design'.
>
> I think you should go back and read the works of Codd and Date on the
> development of relational databases.  One point that was made early on is
> that RDBMS theory doesn't guarantee efficiency, but it does guarantee

SQL is only one possible relational query language.  It didn't
become de facto standard until the mid- to late-80s.

It is an outgrowth of SEQEL (Structured English QuEry Language),
which was IBM's 1st try at a descriptive query language.  DEC
had RDML (Relational Data Manipulation Language) to access it's
RDBMS.  I'm sure that Burroughs, etc, had their own access methods,
too.

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