Database Systems: Concepts, Design and Applications

1.9. Historical Perspective of Database Systems

From the earliest days of computers, storing and manipulation of data have been a major application focus. Historically, the initial computer applications focused on clerical tasks, for example, employee’s payroll calculation, work scheduling of a manufacturing industry, order and entry processing and so on. Based on the request from the users, such applications accessed data stored in computer files, converted stored data into information, and generated various reports useful for the organisation. These were called file-based systems. Decades-long evolution in computer technology, data processing and information management, have resulted into development of sophisticated modern database system. ...