Date on Database: a one-day Master Class
by Chris Date
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Description
This seminar takes an in-depth look at some of the issues at the forefront of database research and practice. It discutes these major topics:
The Third Manifesto is a detailed proposal for a solid foundation for the future of data and database management systems. Like Codd's original papers, it can be seen as an abstract blueprint for the design of a DBMS and the language interface to such a DBMS. Among other things, it lays the foundation for a logically correct approach to integrating object and relational technologies, or in other words to building what are sometimes called "object/relational" DBMSs. However, it's not limited to O/R databases as such but is applicable to other kinds of databases also: for example, temporal databases, spatial databases, and databases used in connection with the Web. It's also applicable to the design of "rule engines", also known as business logic servers, which some regard as the next generation of general purpose DBMS products.
The Closed World Assumption is an important concept in the database world, despite the fact that it isn't usually spelled out explicitly. Basically what it says is this: Everything stated by the database is true; everything else is false. This presentation explains the CWA in detail and shows why it's preferred over its rival, the Open World Assumption (OWA). In particular, it examines the claims that are sometimes heard to the ffect that the database community operates under the CWA while the semantic web community operates under the OWA. It also shows how "missing information" can be handled without any need for nulls or three-valued logic.
The TransRelationaltm Model is a new and elegant DBMS implementation technology, one that's dramatically different from technologies that have been tried in the past. In my opinion, in fact, it?s the most significant advance in the database field since Codd first invented the Relational Model, over 35 years ago. In particular, it represents among other things a highly effective way to implement the relational model. Such an implementation would be orders of magnitude faster than, and would deliver a far greater degree of data independence than, today's SQL products.