Database Systems 810:114
Fall 2005
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Quotes and Comments on Database Systems


It was thirty years ago today
Dr. Edgar showed the world the way
          - with apologies to Lennon & McCartney (from C.J. Date)

Dr. Edgar F. Codd is the father of the Relational Model which he introducted to the world in 1969. The major contribution was to make database management into a science. Codd provided a theoretical framework for data. The term Relational Theory is as appropriate as the Relational Model.

                   Paraphrased from C. J. Date

Data that is 99.9% pure is 0.1% impure. That means that 1 in 1000 pieces of data is bad. There is NO room in a database for bad data. It is the database developer's job (your job) to ensure that no bad data can enter and corrupt the database. Remember that the bad piece of data might just be used to calculate your pay check!

We lost much on 9-11 but we did not lose data. Many data intensive cooperations had major offices in the Twin Towers and they lost all of their computer equipment but, because of database management systems, they did not lose their data.