SQL is under R.I.P. tombstone, is it a myth or truth??? For quite some time now the world has declared the death of one of the most used programming platform in the commercial world the SQL or Structured Query Language. Let us check the truth meter for the real status of SQL. In reality SQL is emerging as a standard data access method for the Big Data and NoSQL technologies that were supposed to represent its Waterloo.
In the words of Andy Mendelsohn, Executive Vice President, Oracle (ORCL, Financial) Database Server Technologies, explaining the current trends in data management during a recent webcast, “A couple years ago everybody was like, no, we don’t need SQL; now, after a few years, everyone has figured out, hey, we need SQL, it’s really critical.”
The saga of SQL
SQL was born in 1970 as a standard data access method working on relatively proportional data pool. SQL gained quick popularity among business data management systems owing to its sound logical approach in data handling and consistency in data sequential storage in tabular format. For the last 40 years or so, SQL has gone through constant evolution through the innovation and improvisation efforts from American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Joint Technical Committee (ISO/IEC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC). In the current status after going through all these years of evolution dynamics, it is now capable of managing and synchronizing fully unstructured and semi-structured data with much ease of handling. SQL in its current shape can effectively provide unified access to data in text, XML, JSON formats and effective on pictures, text, spatial and graphical data representation.
In fact SQL set the ball rolling for the biggest craze in the world of data management today – "The Big Data."
What is so big about Big Data?
In a world where almost everything in life has been reduced to the screens of our computers and smart phones, the enormous transfer of data through internet for e-commerce, social media and the Internet of Things (IoT) gave birth to Big Data. To simplify the data travelling through internet media has increased manifolds due to the rate of usage of internet in our lives and the combinations of these data together is referred to as Big Data, which is indeed bigger than life itself. But the business world was unable to make good use of the Big Data in a real big way in order to gain business mileage due to the difference in access methods and languages to query and access Big Data. This marked the diminishing effect of SQL and gave birth to the next platform NoSQL.
Due to the limitations of not being able to make useful information from the data in Big Data it mainly became a data storage house and lost its shine as the data could not be intelligently and efficiently organized.
SQL is resurfacing to prove its worth
Having passed through the test of time and having gone through the elaborate evolution process mainly garnered by Oracle, it has become a benchmark in the world of database management. A popular data format used in some NoSQL platform is JSON or JavaScript Object Notation. SQL had already achieved the JSON capability through its evolution process even before NoSQL came into existence and users can use JSON intelligently coupled with the core expertise of SQL.
The most popular Big Data computing platform is Hadoop, which is based on a programming framework called MapReduce, which was supposed to claim the crown of replacing relational database the core competency of SQL. But the dearth of skilled MapReduce developers jolted its quest for the crown and left with no option but to fall back on the time-tested SQL. So the question remains can we really call it a day for SQL and move on to a next platform in the realm of database management?
Oracle rebuilding SQL glory
Oracle being the global leaders in the database management system has taken the onus of honing the capabilities of SQL. It is working towards evolving SQL in order to incorporate and integrate Big Data structures into enterprise data storage environments. Oracle has recently launched the Big Data SQL product not a part of its Oracle Big Data Appliance – a combo of hardware and software solution for Big Data.
Oracle is now in the process of rechristening SQL and presenting it to the market as a fully functional Oracle SQL dialect with full Oracle query optimization and full Oracle parallel query algorithms. SQL in its new avatar will be able to integrate data that’s stored in Oracle databases, NoSQL and Hadoop into a single SQL query. SQL is not getting into a combat with Big Data but is in conglomeration mode with it to present the world with enhanced information integration capability rather than information silos.
What to watch for in Oracle’s new moves
Oracle is treading the popular people’s choice way. Through integration of SQL with technologies like NoSQL and Hadoop, it is empowering the end users with the benefit of all the three systems. Oracle is spearheading the process of integrating SQL into Big Data along with all the sophisticated features and functions that have been imbibed into SQL through the years of evolution, not the least of which have to do with one of Big Data’s most glaring limitations: security. Through this combination process end users can now reap the benefits of the high level security layers of SQL on their data stored in Hadoop or NoSQL or Big Data, which is certainly a feature worth paying for where data theft and breach is so widespread.
Oracle through this process of re-evolving SQL has not just added a new chapter to its success story over the years but an incredibly wise business decision whose reflection will be imminent on its financial performance with renewed life to the highly regarded SQL platform. It’s time to closely watch the second innings of SQL and accordingly consolidate our positions in Oracle as a company.
