Re: Whatever happened to BS-12?

From: paul c <toledobythesea_at_oohay.ac>
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:44:54 GMT
Message-ID: <qM78h.344260$R63.47202@pd7urf1no>

jlfoster wrote:
> "Roy Hann" <specially_at_processed.almost.meat> wrote in message <news:8JidnWPKlZm9O8HYRVnyvw_at_pipex.net>...
>
>

>>"Bob Badour" <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:vX07h.20787$cz.317781_at_ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>>
>>>jlfoster wrote:
>>>
>>>>And how in hell did System R (and the SQL nightmare) get so popular? Feh.
>>>>
>>>>http://www.mcjones.org/System_R/bs12.html
>>>
>>>It was good enough.
>>
>>And it had an IBM badge on it.  For modern readers, consider how today the Microsoft badge protects the technology buyer from 
>>rebuke when it turns out badly.

>
>
> Wasn't BS/12 also developed by IBM?
>
>

Yes, and Hugh Darwen (of third manifesto fame) was one of its developers for some years - I don't know if he was chagrined when IBM then assigned him to the SQL standards committee. There is a brief summary of BS12 written by Darwen somewhere on the web (and another by David Maier in one of his books, sorry I don't remember where and which). Maybe that's where Darwen mentions how the Yank IBM lab took a look and decided to go their own way (I suspect because they didn't understand it, Darwen is probably too polite to say that).

I believe some of the early bright relational lights such as Stephen Todd also worked on BS12. If the microprocessor and copious main memory had been dominant then, I wonder if developments might have ended up quite different.

p Received on Sun Nov 19 2006 - 19:44:54 CST