SQL

The declarative standard for asking relational databases questions — you describe the result, the engine finds the plan.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Donald Chamberlin and Raymond Boyce designed SEQUEL at IBM in 1974 from Codd's relational model.
• It became an ANSI standard in 1986 and has outlived every database that first spoke it.
• Its roots are relational algebra and calculus — set theory you can run.