SQL is the cornerstone of modern data management, empowering developers, analysts, and organizations worldwide to interact with databases and other data sources efficiently and securely. Pronounced “sequel” or “S-Q-L”, SQL has been the gold standard for over four decades, enabling everything from simple data retrieval to complex analytics on petabytes of information.

SQL is the gateway to unlocking the power of structured data, for business users asking business questions, for developers building applications that interact with data, for data scientists finding patterns and trends in data, and many more.

SQL’s versatility spans industries, from finance to healthcare, e-commerce to scientific research. It’s the backbone of business intelligence (BI), data warehousing, and data lake ecosystems, handling tasks that range from ad-hoc reporting to real-time analytics and large transaction processing.

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What is SQL?

SQL is a domain-specific language designed for managing and manipulating data in relational and semi-structured form. It is sometimes referred to as Structured Query Language. At its core, SQL provides a declarative way to define, query, and manipulate data.

SQL’s syntax is human-readable and concise, making it accessible even to non-programmers. A basic example:

SELECT name, age FROM customers WHERE age > 30 ORDER BY name;

This query retrieves the names and ages of customers older than 30, sorted alphabetically.

Key Components of SQL:

  • Data Query Language (DQL): Primarily SELECT statements to retrieve and filter data.
  • Data Manipulation Language (DML): Commands like INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE to modify records.
  • Data Definition Language (DDL): Tools such as CREATE, ALTER, and DROP to build and restructure database schemas (tables, views, functions, etc.).
  • Data Control Language (DCL): GRANT and REVOKE for managing user permissions and security.
  • Transaction Control Language (TCL): COMMIT and ROLLBACK to ensure data integrity during operations.

A Brief History of SQL

SQL’s origins trace back to the 1970s amid the relational database revolution. Here’s a timeline of its development:

  • 1970: Birth at IBM – Developed by Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce as SEQUEL (Structured English QUEry Language) for IBM’s System R project. Inspired by Edgar F. Codd’s 1970 relational model paper, which introduced tables (relations) and keys to eliminate data silos.
  • 1974: Renamed and Prototyped – SEQUEL became SQL due to trademark issues. System R proved the viability of relational databases, with early SQL handling queries on prototype hardware.
  • 1979: Commercial Debut – Oracle (then Relational Software, Inc.) released the first commercially available RDBMS using SQL, Oracle Database 2.0.
  • 1986: ANSI Standardization – The first SQL standard (SQL-86) was ratified, providing a common foundation. This spurred adoption across vendors.
  • 1987: ISO Adoption – SQL becomes an international standard (ISO/IEC 9075), with ongoing revisions.
  • 1990s: Evolution and Ubiquity – SQL-92 (or SQL2) added outer joins, recursion, and integrity constraints, and date-time types. Microsoft’s SQL Server (1993) and open-source MySQL (1995) democratized access.
  • 1999–2000s: Object-Relational Shift – SQL:1999 introduced procedural extensions (PSM), triggers, and XML support.
  • 2003 – 2007: XML – SQL added support for storing and querying XML data.
  • 2010s: Big Data and Cloud Era – SQL:2011 added temporal tables for time-series data. Cloud giants like Google Cloud (2011) and AWS (2012) launched managed SQL services, scaling to distributed systems.
  • 2016 – 2019: JSON and Multidimensional arrays – SQL:2016 added initial support for storing and querying JSON data. A new part, SQL/MDA, has been added to support multi-dimensional arrays.
  • 2020s: Modern Enhancements – SQL:2023 added enhanced support for JSON property graphs and improved security. SQL now powers serverless analytics in tools like Databricks and Trino.

Major Achievements and Milestones

SQL’s impact is profound, driving innovations that underpin the global economy. Here are some standout achievements:

  • Ubiquitous Adoption: Powers 80%+ of enterprise databases. In 2023, Stack Overflow’s survey ranked SQL as the third most popular language, used by 51% of developers, surpassed only by JavaScript and Python.
  • Standardization Success: Over eight ISO revisions since 1986 have ensured interoperability, saving trillions in development costs by reducing vendor lock-in.
  • Scalability Breakthroughs: Enabled the “database wars” of the 1980s–90s, where vendors competed to handle enterprise-scale data.
  • Data Democratization: Simplified data access for non-experts, powering citizen data science. Achievements include integrating with BI tools, enabling 70% faster query times in modern engines.
  • AI and Future-Proofing: Recent feats include SQL’s role in LLMs (e.g., text-to-SQL for natural language queries) and vector databases.

SQL’s enduring legacy? It transformed data from a static asset into a dynamic force, fueling the information age. As data volumes explode, SQL continues to adapt, remaining the most reliable bridge between humans and machines.

Get Involved

If you would like to participate in the SQL standard, you can join the SC32/WG3 working group.

Get the Standard

The SQL standard ISO/IEC 9075 is published in multiple parts and can be purchased on the ISO website. You can also purchase a copy from your national standards organization.

  • ISO/IEC 9075-1:2023 – Part 1: Framework (SQL/Framework)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-2:2023 – Part 2: Foundation (SQL/Foundation)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-3:2023 – Part 3: Call-Level Interface (SQL/CLI)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-4:2023 – Part 4: Persistent stored modules (SQL/PSM)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-9:2023 – Part 9: Management of External Data (SQL/MED)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-10:2023 – Part 10: Object language bindings (SQL/OLB)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-11:2023 – Part 11: Information and definition schemas (SQL/Schemata)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-13:2023 – Part 13: SQL Routines and types using the Java TM programming language (SQL/JRT)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-14:2023 – Part 14: XML-Related Specifications (SQL/XML)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-15:2023 – Part 15: Multidimensional arrays (SQL/MDA)
  • ISO/IEC 9075-16:2023 – Part 16: Property Graph Queries (SQL/PGQ)