SQL
Query· alive, actively evolving· since 1974 · Donald D. Chamberlin, Raymond F. Boyce · ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 (WG3)
Declarative language for defining, changing and querying data in relational databases.
Draft from 2026-10-30, not yet checked claim by claim against its sources. Help verify it.
Born from
In 1970 Edgar Codd of the IBM Research Laboratory in San Jose argued that users of large data banks should not have to know how the data is organized, and he faulted the tree and network systems that made programs follow fixed access paths. In 1974 Donald Chamberlin and Raymond Boyce, also at IBM, published SEQUEL, a structured English query language aimed at occasional users as well as programmers.
What it trades away
Cost: Each database speaks its own dialect, and no relational database fully conforms to the SQL standard yet.
Where it fits
| Slot | Fit | |
|---|---|---|
| database | ●●● | |
| data | ●●● | DuckDB embeds SQL in a host process and integrates with Python and R. |
| server | ○○○ | SQL runs inside the database server; it is not a language for writing the server. |
Why it exists
In 1970 Edgar Codd, a researcher at IBM’s laboratory in San Jose, published a relational model for large shared data banks. His central demand was that users should not have to know how the data is organized in the machine. He criticised the tree and network systems of the day, where programs had to follow fixed access paths through the data (Codd, 1970). Donald Chamberlin and Raymond Boyce, also at IBM, set out to give that model a query language. Their 1974 paper called it SEQUEL and aimed it at occasional database users as well as programmers (IBM Research). Chamberlin later said they wanted to put Codd’s ideas into plain English that anyone could follow (interview).
What it trades away
SQL is mostly declarative. A query says which rows it wants, and the database decides how to fetch them, so tuning means learning the optimizer rather than writing loops (Wikipedia). The standard is also too large for any product to implement completely. PostgreSQL states that as of version 18 it conforms to at least 170 of the 177 mandatory SQL:2023 Core features, and that no relational database fully meets the standard yet. Products differ in syntax and function, so a query written for one database often needs edits before it runs on another (PostgreSQL).
Where it won
SQLite is on every Android device and iPhone, every Mac and Windows 10/11 PC, and in Firefox, Chrome and Safari (SQLite). Oracle introduced the first commercially available SQL-based relational database in 1979 (Oracle). Google’s Spanner, a globally distributed system, moved to the SQL dialect shared across Google’s other systems (Google Research). DuckDB brings SQL to analytics inside Python and R sessions (DuckDB).
Named wins
- SQLite, on every Android device, iPhone, Mac, Windows 10/11 PC, and in Firefox, Chrome and Safari source
- Oracle Database, introduced in 1979 as the first commercially available SQL-based RDBMS source
- Google Spanner, which moved to the SQL dialect shared by other Google systems source
- DuckDB, an embedded analytics database that works inside Python and R sessions source
Evolution
Reacts to: –
Weigh it against: Python, r, julia
Timeline
- 1970Edgar Codd publishes the relational model and argues users should not need to know the data layout source
- 1974Chamberlin and Boyce publish SEQUEL, the query language that became SQL source
- 1979Oracle Version 2 is introduced as the first commercially available SQL-based RDBMS source
- 1986ANSI accepts SQL as a standard, ANSI X3.135-1986 source
- 2017Google publishes Spanner: Becoming a SQL System, moving Spanner to the SQL dialect shared across Google source
- 2023ISO/IEC 9075:2023 is published, the SQL:2023 edition of the standard source
Links
website · wikipedia · docs · PLDB
Sources
- https://www.engineering.upenn.edu/~zives/03f/cis550/codd.pdf
- https://research.ibm.com/publications/sequel-a-struciured-english-query-language
- https://www.mappingthejourney.com/single-post/2017/10/12/episode-11-interview-with-don-chamberlin-designer-of-sql-database-language/
- https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/21/cncpt/database-concepts.pdf
- https://www.dbvis.com/thetable/standard-ansi-sql-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters/
- https://research.google/pubs/spanner-becoming-a-sql-system/
- https://sqlite.org/mostdeployed.html
- https://duckdb.org/why_duckdb
- https://www.postgresql.org/about/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL
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