SQL in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Chapter 1. SQL History and Implementations

In the early 1970s, the seminal work of IBM research fellow Dr. E. F. Codd led to the development of a relational data model product called SEQUEL, or Structured English Query Language. SEQUEL ultimately became SQL, the Structured Query Language. Ironically, the SQL standard treats “SQL” as the name of this language and not as an acronym. Jim Melton, longtime editor of the SQL standard, claims that if SQL is an acronym, it stands for “SQL Query Language.”

IBM, along with other relational database vendors, wanted a standardized method for accessing and manipulating data in a relational database. Although IBM was the first to develop relational database theory, Oracle was first to market the technology. Over time, SQL proved popular enough in the marketplace to attract the attention of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in cooperation with the International Standards Organization (ISO), which released standards for SQL in 1986, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2016, and 2019.

Since 1986, various competing languages have allowed developers to access and manipulate relational data. However, few were as easy to learn or as universally accepted as SQL. Developers and administrators now have the benefit of being able to learn a single language that, with minor adjustments, is applicable to a wide variety of database platforms, applications, and products.

SQL in a Nutshell, 4th edition, provides the syntax for five common implementations ...