Question:
Where can I find miscellaneous information about SQL on the web? If you know of anyuseful websites with history, general structure, etc…, of SQL, please let me know.
Answer:
I haven’t found the sites you are seeking on the web, and am more comfortable recommending printed books. You should start at the beginning. There are a ton of books, but you have to go a long way to beat Chris Date’s Relational Database Writings series. Start at volume one, and get ready for a long relationship. You should also read E.F. Codd’s earlier writings, up to The Relational Model for Database Management; Version 2 (1990). Then I would look at Fleming and Von Halle’s Handbook of Relational Database Design.
Historically, designs have moved from flat files to hierarchies, from hierarchies to networks, and from networks to relational models. Each step represented a solution to the shortcomings of its predecessors. Hierarchies reduced repetition in flat files, networks improved lateral navigation between records, and relational removed the physical pointers to the next record from network models.
