Edgar F. Codd
Early Life and Education
Edgar Frank Codd was born on August 23, 1923, in Fortuneswell, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. He was the youngest of seven children. His father, a leather merchant, and his mother, a school teacher, instilled in him a love for learning from an early age.
Codd attended the prestigious Oxford University, where he studied mathematics and logic. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948. During his time at Oxford, he developed an interest in computer science, a field that was just beginning to emerge.
Career
After graduating from Oxford, Codd moved to the United States to pursue a career in computer science. He joined the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1949, where he worked on the development of the first commercial computers.
In the early 1960s, Codd began working on the problem of data management. He realized that the existing methods of storing and retrieving data were inefficient and error-prone. This led him to develop the concept of the relational database, a revolutionary idea that would change the field of data management forever.
Relational Database Model
In 1970, Codd published his seminal paper, "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks," in which he proposed the relational database model. This model represented data as a collection of tables, or relations, each consisting of rows and columns. Each row represented a record, and each column represented a field of the record.
The relational model was a departure from the hierarchical and network models that were prevalent at the time. It offered several advantages, including simplicity, flexibility, and the ability to handle complex queries. Codd's model also introduced the concept of data independence, which meant that changes in the physical storage of data would not affect the logical view of the data.
Codd's relational model formed the basis for Structured Query Language (SQL), a standard language for managing and manipulating relational databases. Today, SQL is used by most relational database management systems, including Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server.
Later Career and Legacy
Codd continued to work at IBM until his retirement in 1984. During his career, he made significant contributions to the field of computer science, particularly in the area of data management. He received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the ACM Turing Award, one of the highest honors in computer science.
Codd passed away on April 18, 2003, but his legacy lives on. His relational database model continues to be the standard for data management, and his ideas have influenced countless software developers and database administrators.
See Also
