Oracle Server Technologies and the Relational Paradigm
02.02.2010 by admin - 0 CommentPosted in Oracle
The Oracle server technologies product set is more than a database. There is also the Oracle Application Server and the Oracle Enterprise Manager. Taken together, these are the server technologies that make up the Grid. Grid computing is an emerging environment for managing the complete IT environment and providing resources to users on demand.
The relational paradigm for database information management was first formalized in the late ‘60s and has been continually refined since. A paradigm is a set of standards agreed upon by all those involved that specifies how problems should be understood and addressed. There are other paradigms within the data processing world. The Oracle database is an implementation of a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) that conforms to the relational paradigm, but it then goes beyond it to include some aspects of other paradigms such as hierarchical and object-oriented models.
Structured Query Language (SQL, pronounced “sequel”) is an international standard for managing data stored in relational databases. Oracle Database 11g offers an implementation of SQL that is generally compliant with the current standard, which is SQL-2003. Full details of the compliancy are in Appendix B of the SQL Language Reference, which is part of the Oracle Database Documentation Library. As a rule, compliancy can be assumed.
Throughout this book, two tools are used extensively for exercises: SQL*Plus and SQL Developer. These are tools that developers use every day in their work. The exercises and many of the examples are based on two emonstration sets of data, known as the HR and OE schemas. There are instructions on how to launch the tools and create the demonstration schemas, though you may need assistance from your local database administrator to get started.
This chapter consists of summarized descriptions of the Oracle Server Technologies; the concepts behind the relational paradigm and normalizing of data into relational structures; the SQL language; the client tools; and the demonstration schemas.
