SQL Programming & Database Management For Noobee

Chapter One

SQL Overview

In this chapter you will learn a brief background on how and why SQL came into existence.

Gaining knowledge on the history of this computer language will help you understand its importance to

most IT professionals who focus on the field of data manipulation. You will also have an idea on how to

maximize the potentials of SQL in the ever-changing world of Information Technology.

The current trend in most businesses today is to invest in technology that will gather data in the

most efficient and effective way. However, gathering information is only the start of the extensive

process of data manipulation. Companies, especially multi-national ones, require experts who possess

the skills of analyzing, presenting, managing and storing data. In other words, they need to use computer

programs that will transform raw company data to useful information. Now, thanks to Structured Query

Language, or simply SQL, that brought about such transformation in accessing and manipulating data in

a very meaningful way.

History of SQL

Pronounced as ees-que-ell or see’qwl, SQL is a computer language initially invented by an

American multinational technology and consulting company known as IBM (International Business

Machines Corporation) way back 1970s using Dr. E. F. Codd’s paper on "A Relational Model of Data

for Large Shared Data Banks" for the prototype design. It was originally called SEQUEL (Structured

English QUEry Language) that handled queries on the collection and organization of data - or simply

known as a database. More features were added to the computer software to improve its performance,

like building and managing database security, among others. When IBM researchers learned that there is

another company that had the same Sequel trademark, they renamed it to S-Q-L (presently

expanded as Structured Query Language).

Since it was first released to the public, SQL already had many versions. In 1979, Relational

Software, Incorporated (which later became the Oracle Corporation) released ORACLE, the first SQL

product. Now, as the demand for computers that manage data has increased, the more SQL has become

an industry standard in the field of Information Technology. Such formal standard is set and maintained

by the International Standards Organization, or simply known as ISO. It was on 1986, based on IBM’s

implementation, that SQL has been recognized as the standard language in database communication.

The following year, ISO accepted ANSI SQL as the international standard. ANSI stands for American

National Standards Institute, which is an organization that approves certain standards in various US

industries. Many revisions of the standards followed, such as in 1992 (SQL-92) and in 1999 (SQL-99).

The latest one is now called SQL-2011, which was officially released in December 2011.

Use of SQL:

The corporate world is now shifting from merely producing products and providing services to

investing in digital technologies that handle vast amounts of data, to be transformed to meaningful

pieces of information that will generate more profitable income for the company. This is the primary

objective of SQL – to access and manipulate data that will further lead to business insights. This flexible

computer language has been the most widely used communication tool in handling databases

(specifically relational databases that will be further discussed in Chapter 3 of this book).

Try to imagine that you are going to a foreign country for a vacation. You may need to learn that

country’s language to find your way around as you explore the new place. When you try ask someone

for directions, who is local to that place and only speaks the country’s language, then surely you will

have a hard time understanding him. In this scenario, the foreign land will be your database in which

you need to seek information while SQL is the language that you will use to get what you need from the

database.

From time to time, you will encounter the term query, which is also a part of the abbreviation of

SQL. Query is basically the question written using an SQL statement that is being asked from the

database. SQL then retrieves the needed information when any of the data in the database meets the

requirements of the conditions of the given query. So in real-life applications, such as an online store,

when you execute your query for a specific item by entering your search criteria, SQL programming

usually takes place in the background to manage the database connections. You are actually telling the

database, through the help of SQL, what information you want to see and how you want it to be

presented to you.

People Using SQL

SQL is not only applicable for IT professionals or geeks who possess remarkable programming

skills. With the growing corporate world of today, non-IT personnel such as businessmen and managers,

can also benefit from learning the semantics of SQL. This is because the computer language enables

them to understand the ins and outs of their businesses using the data that drives every company.

Moreover, it opens several career opportunities in the analytical, managerial, strategic or research fields

- for those who want to step-up from their current positions. On the IT field, SQL knowledge can lead to

more challenging roles such as database designers, administrators or scientists, systems engineers,

project managers and software developers, among others.

In this chapter you have learnt an overview of SQL – its history, its primary purpose why it was

created and those who will profit from learning this powerful database software.