A short history of SQL

Where SQL came from

• In 1970, Edgar F. Codd at IBM had a powerful idea: keep data in plain tables.
• He called it the relational model — tables linked by shared values.
• It is still how most databases work today.

The SQL language

• Around 1974, Donald Chamberlin and Raymond Boyce at IBM built a language to question those tables.
• They first named it SEQUEL, later shortened to SQL.
• That's why many people still say "sequel" out loud.

You say what, not how

• SQL is declarative: you say what data you want, not how to fetch it.
• The database works out the fastest way to get it for you.
• So one short, clear query can search through millions of rows.

SELECT name FROM student;

SQL today

• In 1986, SQL became an official ANSI standard, so everyone agreed on the basics.
• Today nearly every relational database speaks SQL — SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server.
• Learn it once, and you can talk to all of them.