What Goes Around Comes Around... And Around... - Andy Pavlo (Dijkstra Award 2024)

Andy Pavlo traces the 60-year history of data modeling to explain why the relational model and SQL consistently outlast and absorb competing database paradigms.

Speaker: Andy Pavlo Abstract: Doesn't it feel like there is always a new crop of database management systems (DBMSs) pushing the idea that the relational model (RM) is outdated and SQL is dying? Proponents of vector databases have recently taken up this mantle fueled by interest in AI/ML technologies. Before that, NoSQL and MapReduce users claimed that RM/SQL was insufficient for "webscale" applications. And then, back in the 1990s, the object-oriented database vendors wanted every developer to switch to their non-RM, non-SQL systems. Database history does not repeat itself, but it indeed does rhyme. In this talk, I will present the 60-year history of data modeling research and demonstrate why RM/SQL is the preferred default choice for database applications of any size. All efforts to completely replace the data model or query language have failed. Instead, SQL absorbed the best ideas from these alternative approaches and remains relevant for modern applications. Biography: Andy Pavlo is an Associate Professor with Indefinite Tenure of Databaseology in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. He knows some pile about databases. Website: cwi.nl/en/events/dijkstra-awards/cwi-lectures-dijkstra-fello… About the Dijkstra Fellowship The Dijkstra Fellowship is named after former CWI researcher Edsger W. Dijkstra, who was one of the most influential scientists in the history of CWI. Dijkstra developed the shortest path algorithm, among other contributions. The first Dijkstra Fellowships were awarded to David Chaum and Guido van Rossum in 2019. Dijkstra Fellowship 2024 for Marcin Żukowski Marcin Żukowski started his career at CWI. He did his MSc and PhD research on database management system architectures in our Database Architectures (DA) group. As a PhD student under the supervision of Peter Boncz, he developed the innovative concept of vectorized execution to improve the performance of database queries. This research received the DaMoN 2007 Best Paper Award and also the CIDR 2024 Test of Time Award, established by the Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR).