Database Management Systems Explained
June 27, 2009 by Dunkin · 8 Comments
If you are among the billions of people who use a computer system on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, the possibilities are quite high that you might also be using some form of database programs that are administering you with the information that you view on the Internet. This data is typically sorted in a software program called a database management system (which is also known by its acronym: DBMS). Databases have been functioning since the inception of computer usage decades ago and have only evolved in their functionality, speed and capacity over more recent years. To begin with, there was only one type of database management system: the navigational database management system. So named because this system would navigate from one information point to the next until it found the component that was being looked for. This was often very time consuming as the navigational database management system had to search through every bit of data in the database one step at a time. As time progressed, so did database research and a new management system was developed: the nested relational database management system.
The nested relational database management system is so named due to the relationship qualities that the data contained within have with each other. For instance, in this relational database system, all the data is kept in tables and any such related data to the original is stored in a separate table that is then linked back to the original data. Upon searching for a piece of information, the computer system no longer requires to put the request through the rigors of the navigational system and the searched information is then retrieved at a much more accelerated pace — this is also true of any associated or related data. This action is carried out with keys and each key is assigned to a particular record so there will be no cross contaminating of information. This is the most common type of database management system in use nowadays.
Additionally to the navigational and nested relational database management system, there is also an object database management system that is quite typically used by large corporations that have a need for more complex data analyzing and processing. It is clear to see that the inception and development of the database management system over the course of the years has provided us products for every range of application and variety of computer use.
