We're talking about databases again. Or database management systems, we're not totally sure. In any case, they are relational databases (or database management systems).

The relational database has been the go-to system for storing structured data since the 1980s, and is still the most popular type of system to use for applications and business reporting. We discuss their history, what makes them relational, and our experiences with some of the better known commercial and open-source relational systems.

A Relational Model of Shared Databanks - EF Codd

Dr. Michael Stonebraker - A Short History of Database Systems

Send us a text

Jim Gray was a key innovator in the area of database technology and he won the Turing Prize in 1998. He was particularly influential with respect to the definition and formalization of transactions, and he identified and named the A, C, and D of ACID. Gray, an avid hiker and sailor, disappeared in 2007 while sailing out of San Francisco to the Farallon Islands, and no trace of him was ever found.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/video/behind-the-code-with-jim-gray/

https://www.wired.com/2007/07/ff-jimgray-2/

Send us a text

This week Matt Teichman, host of the Elucidations podcast, dropped by the show to chat about functional programming and its surprising relationship to linguistics and philosophy. Matt teaches Linguistics, Philosophy, and Computer Science at the University of Chicago and he also works on open-source software for the University of Chicago library, including an interesting OCaml project used by archivists called Attachment Converter.

Thanks to our newest Patreon subscribers: Ralph Minderhoud and Tim Lavoie!

Stuff to Check Out

• Matt's podcast: Elucidations
• Matt's website: Matt Teichman - Philosophy - University of Chicago
• Attachment Converter, open-source library: Attachment Converter
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Montague Semantics

Send us a text