Beyond relational

Beyond relational is actually only a marketing term. The relational model, used in the relational database management system, is nowhere limited to specific data types or specific languages only. However, with the term "beyond relational," we typically mean specialized and complex data types that might include spatial and temporal data, XML or JSON data, and extending the capabilities of the Transact-SQL language with CLR languages such as Visual C#, or statistical languages such as R. SQL Server in versions before 2016 already supports some of the features mentioned. Here is a quick review of this support that includes:

  • Spatial data
  • CLR support
  • XML data

Defining locations and shapes with Spatial Data

In modern applications, often you ...

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