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50 Years of SQL with Don Chamberlin, Computer Scientist and Co-Inventor of SQL

Richie and Don explore the early development of SQL, the commercialization and adoption of SQL, how it became standardized, how it evolved and spread via open source, the future of SQL through NoSQL and SQL++ and much more.
· 36 min läs
Don Chamberlin

Gäst

Don Chamberlin

Don Chamberlin is renowned as the co-inventor of SQL (Structured Query Language), the predominant database language globally, which he developed with Raymond Boyce in the mid-1970s. Chamberlin's professional career began at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, New York, following a summer internship there during his academic years. His work on IBM's System R project led to the first SQL implementation and significantly advanced IBM’s relational database technology. His contributions were recognized when he was made an IBM Fellow in 2003 and later a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in 2009 for his pioneering work on SQL and database architectures. Chamberlin also contributed to the development of XQuery, an XML query language, as part of the W3C, which became a W3C Recommendation in January 2007. Additionally, he holds fellowships with ACM and IEEE and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Richie Cotton

Host

Richie Cotton

Richie helps individuals and organizations get better at using data and AI. He's been a data scientist since before it was called data science, and has written two books and created many DataCamp courses on the subject. He is a host of the DataFramed podcast, and runs DataCamp's webinar program.

Chat with AI Richie about every episode of DataFramed - all data champs welcome!

Key Quotes

The database revolution has just been unfolding rapidly over the last half century, and I was really privileged to take a part in it. SQL didn't cause this revolution, it was caused by economics. It's been a wild ride and I'm very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way over the years.

SQL has been more successful than we ever dreamed it could be. But I'd have to say that the language met the goals that we had defined for ourselves only in part. Remember, Ray and I thought that SQL would be used by what we call casual users who were not computer programmers. Well, it turned out we were wrong about that. The actual users of SQL turned out to be mostly programmers building database applications. Well, I think SQL has made the work of these programmers easier and more productive, so that's a good thing. The casual users, I think, are still out there, but they're not using SQL. They're using Google and increasingly, I think they're starting to use AI systems like chat GPT.

Key Takeaways

  1. The development of SQL was driven by the need for a non-procedural, readable, and accessible way to query databases. Data professionals should focus on designing systems and languages that simplify complex processes, making data accessible to a broader range of users.

  2. The success stories of MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite highlight the impact of open-source resources on learning and practical implementation in the data space. Utilizing and contributing to open source can accelerate development and foster a community of learning.

  3. The development of SQL++ and the ongoing evolution of database technologies suggest that continuous innovation is crucial to meet the changing demands and opportunities presented by new data-intensive applications.

Transkript

Richie Cotton: Welcome to DataFramed. This is Richie. We're celebrating two anniversaries today. First of all, it's episode 200 of Data Framed. Thank you for listening. I'm really proud to be your host and I hope I've helped you learn some useful things about data and AI. Secondly, it's 50 years since Don Chamberlain and Ray Boyce published the first ever paper on the SQL programming language.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this changed the world. Even now, every data practitioner needs some SQL skills because that's how we access our data. We only bring you the best on this show, and today's guest is Don Chamberlain himself. He's here to talk about the early years of SQL, how the language went from an idea about easier ways by accessing data to world domination.

We spend a lot of time on this show thinking about the future, but I think it's also important to occasionally step backwards and appreciate how far we've come. Let's hear Don's story.

Hi, Don. Welcome to the show.

Don Chamberlin: Hi, Richie. Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

Richie Cotton: I'd love to start by just finding out how you first became interested in databases.

Don Chamberlin: Well, I'll start from the beginning. In 1970, I was finishing my graduate studies at Stanford, and I took my first professional job with IBM at the Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. I moved from California to New York in the winter, which was not a move I'd recommend if you enjoy warm weather

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