Future Trends in Data Base Systems

This paper discusses the likely evolution of commercial data managers over the next several years. Topics to be covered include: Why SQL has become an intergalactic standard. Who will benefit from SQL standardization. Why the current SQL standard has no chance of lasting. Why all data base systems will be distributed soon. What new technologies are likely to be commercialized. Why vendor independence may be achievable. The objective of this paper is to present the author’s vision of the future. As with all papers of this sort, this vision is likely to be controversial. Moreover, the reader will detect many of the author’s biases and is advised to react with the appropriate discounting.