SQL in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

History of the SQL Standard

In response to the proliferation of SQL dialects, ANSI published its first SQL standard in 1986 to bring about greater conformity among vendors. This was followed by a second, widely adopted standard in 1989. The International Standards Organization (ISO) also approved the SQL standard. ANSI released one update in 1992, known as SQL92 or SQL2, and another in 1999, termed SQL99 or SQL3. The next update, made in 2003, is also referred to as SQL3 (or SQL2003). When we use that term in this book, we are referring to the 2003 revision of the standard.

Each time it revises the SQL standard, ANSI adds new features and incorporates new commands and capabilities into the language. For example, the SQL99 standard added a group of capabilities that handled object-oriented datatype extensions.