Re: The Fact of relational algebra (was Re: Clean Object Class Design -- What is it?)

Daniel Poon wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Im jumping in on this thread, because there has always
> something bothering me about relational algebra that I want to
> get an answer to.
>
> Ive often heard that rdbms are based on relational algebra, a
> branch of mathematics. When I studdied mathematics, a long time
> ago I admit, I never encountered relational algebra. The
> nearest thing I can hazily remember are 'relations', which are
> what you guys would call binary tuples. The algebra we used was
> quite different than the one put about by the rdbms guys.
>
> So where can I learn about 'relational algegra'. Does it really
> exist?
>
> When applying relational algebra to computing, is it a fair
> assumption to say that it is a value based system? Mathematics
> always seemed more like an identity based system to me.
>
> Daniel Poon
>
> danielp
> at
> romaxtech
> dot
> com
>
>
>

        See E.F. Codd's paper in the Communications of the ACM in which he described the relational model for databases. The reference is "E. F. Codd: A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. CACM 13(6): 377-387(1970)".

        I am under the impression that relational algebra was first described by Bertrand Russell in the 1920s.

-- 
Jerry Gitomer
Once I learned how to spell DBA, I became one