How It Works
SQL
Structured Query Language — the standard language for talking to relational databases. You write SQL statements to create tables, insert rows, and ask questions like “show me every customer in New York who spent over $1,000 last month.” Nearly every business application that stores structured data sits on top of SQL.
Origin
Developed at IBM in the early 1970s by Donald Chamberlin and Raymond Boyce, based on Edgar F. Codd’s 1970 relational model. It was originally called SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language); the name was shortened to SQL after a trademark conflict. ANSI and ISO standardized it in 1986 and 1987.