Database Applications

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

History of Database

Ancient to modern: The origins go back to libraries, governmental, business, and medical records. There is a very long history of information storage, indexing, and retrieval. Don't ignore this history, there is usually something to learn from these folks and their success and failure. Lots of online stuff (and there is lots) does not guarantee quality of data or search technique. Good design principles goes way back and lots is known now about how to make good designs that lead to better reliability and performance.

1960's: Computers become cost effective for private companies along with increasing storage capability of computers. Two main data models were developed: network model (CODASYL) and hierarchical (IMS).

1970-72: E.F. Codd proposed 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 been standard ever since.



Ingres: Developed at UCB. This ultimately led to Ingres Corp., Sybase, MS SQL Server, Britton-Lee, Wang's PACE. This system used QUEL as query language.

System R: Developed at IBM San Jose and led to IBM's SQL/DS & DB2, Oracle, HP's Allbase, Tandem's Non-Stop SQL. This system used SEQUEL as query language.

The term Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is coined during this period.

1976: P. Chen proposed the Entity-Relationship (ER) model for database design giving yet another important insight into conceptual data models. Such higher level modeling allows the designer to concentrate on the use of data instead of logical table structure.

Mid-1980's: SQL (Structured Query Language) becomes "intergalactic standard". DB2 becomes IBM's flagship product. Network and hierarchical models fade into the background, with essentially no development of these systems today but some legacy systems are still in use. Development of the IBM PC gives 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), Watcom SQL.

Early 1990's: An industry shakeout begins with fewer surviving companies offering increasingly complex products at higher prices. Much development during this period centers on client tools for application development such as PowerBuilder (Sybase), Oracle Developer, VB (Microsoft), etc. Client-server model for computing becomes the norm for future business decisions. Development of personal productivity tools such as Excel/Access (MS) and ODBC. This also marks the beginning of Object Database Management Systems (ODBMS) prototypes.

Mid-1990's: Kaboom! The usable Internet/WWW appears. A mad scramble ensues to allow remote access to computer systems with legacy data. Client-server frenzy reaches the desktop of average users with little patience for complexity while Web/DB grows exponentially.

Late-1990's: The large investment in Internet companies fuels tools market boom for Web/Internet/DB connectors. Active Server Pages, Front Page, Java Servlets, JDBC, Enterprise Java Beans, ColdFusion, Dream Weaver, Oracle Developer 2000, etc are examples of such offerings. Open source solution come online with widespread use of gcc, 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: Decline of the Internet industry as a whole but solid growth of DB applications continues. More interactive applications appear with use of PDAs, POS transactions, consolidation of vendors, etc. Three main (western) companies predominate in the large DB market: IBM (buys Informix), Microsoft, and Oracle.

Future trends: Huge (terabyte) systems are appearing and will require novel means of handling and analyzing data. Large science databases such as genome project, geological, national security, and space exploration data. Clickstream analysis is happening now. Data mining, data warehousing, data marts are a commonly used technique today. More of this in the future without a doubt. Smart/personalized shopping using purchase history, time of day, etc.

Successors to SQL (and perhaps RDBMS) will be emerging in the future. Most attempts to standardize SQL successors has not been successful. SQL92, SQL2, SQL3 are still underpowered and more extensions are hard to agree upon. Most likely this will be overtaken by XML and other emerging techniques. XML with Java for databases is the current poster child of the "next great thing". Check in tomorrow to see what else is news.
Database languages are : SQL, MYSQL, Teradata, Sybase, Stored Procedures, etc...

Some of the useful Database Programming websites

databasecorner.com

Knowledge base about the database industry, database management systems, database application development, data warehouse, data mining, business intelligence, OLAP, OLTP, database administration, database design, data modeling, data integration, data replication, database security related to database management systems.

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Tips and FAQ's of SQL Server

SQLServerCentral.com section that focuses on frequently asked questions (FAQ) for SQL Server and programming against SQL Server. As our columnists answer questions in the newsgroups and in our forums that they see often, they also post those answers here. Over time, this database will build up substantially. If you have a common FAQ to contribute, please submit it to articles@sqlservercentral.com. Please check back often since this database will grow quickly!


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Most important Interview questions on database

Interview questions for high-tech companies. ... How will you enforce security using stored procedures? - Don’t grant user access directly to tables within ...
and so on just keep searching the page you will get lot more information regarding your queries...
For more information click the link below....


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Monday, March 27, 2006

MYSQL

MySQL is a relational database system that is used to store information. MySQL can store many types of data from something as tiny as a single character to as large as complete files or graphics. Although it can be accessed by most programing languages, it is often coupled with PHP because they work together with ease.
Information stored in a MySQL database hosted on a web server can be accessed from anywhere in the world with a computer. This makes it a good way to store information that needs the ability to change over time, but also needs to be accessed over the net. Some examples that can utilize MySQL are a web message board or a customer's shipping status.
To learn more about MYSQL click the link below....


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databases.about.com

The Structured Query Language (SQL) comprises one of the fundamental building blocks of modern database architecture. SQL defines the methods used to create and manipulate relational databases on all major platforms. At first glance, the language may seem intimidating and complex but it's really not all that bad. In a series of articles over the next few weeks we'll explore the inner workings of SQL together. By the time we're through, you'll have the fundamental knowledge you need to go out there and start working with databases!
Click the link to learn more about sql....


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w3schools.com

At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP.
It is contains all the tags with built-in examples and running machine...Just go through it.....


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Friday, March 17, 2006

geekinterview.com

GeekInterview.com is an Open Database where you can share interview questions, comment/answer any questions. Each question is like discussion thread that helps you to learn and understand each question and answer in detail instead of just reading them.
If you have any specific question is not on the site, use "Ask Question", your question will be answered by our fellow friends. If you had an interview, you would like to share the questions and answers use "Add Question" Link. If you have any further questions, please use contact us page.


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