Oracle Database facts for kids
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| Developer(s) | Oracle Corporation |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1979 |
| Stable release |
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| Written in | Assembly language, C, C++ |
| Type | Multi-model database |
| License | Proprietary |
Oracle Database is a special computer program that helps organize and store lots of information. It's also known as Oracle DBMS or just Oracle. This program is made and sold by a company called Oracle Corporation. Because it's a proprietary software, it means Oracle owns it, and you usually pay to use it.
Oracle Database is a multi-model database, which means it can handle different kinds of data. It's often used by big companies for important tasks. For example, it helps with online transaction processing (OLTP), like managing online shopping orders. It also helps with data warehousing (DW), which is about storing and analyzing huge amounts of past information.
You can use Oracle Database in different ways. It can run on computers right in a company's office. This is called "on-premise." Or, it can run on the internet, which is known as "on-cloud" or "cloud computing." Sometimes, companies use a mix of both. Oracle Database uses a special computer language called SQL (Structured Query Language). This language helps users ask the database for information or update it.
History
The story of Oracle Database began in 1977. A person named Larry Ellison and his two friends, Bob Miner and Ed Oates, started a company. They called their company Software Development Laboratories (SDL). This company created the very first version of the Oracle software.
The name Oracle came from a secret project. Larry Ellison had worked on this project for the CIA before starting his own company.
How Oracle Database Got Its Name
Oracle Database has had different names over the years. These names often include a letter at the end. For example, the current version, Oracle Database 23c, has a "c." This "c" stands for "Cloud," because it works well with cloud computing.
Older versions also had special letters. Oracle Database 10g had a "g," which meant "Grid." This was about connecting many computers to work together. Oracle9i Database had an "i," which stood for "Internet." This showed its focus on web technologies. Before Oracle8i Database, there were no letters at the end of the names.
It's interesting to know that there was never an Oracle Database version 1. Larry Ellison thought that no one would want to buy a "version 1" of a product. So, they started with version 2! Oracle also offers a free version called Express Edition (XE). This allows people to use the database for free.
Market Position
Oracle Database is one of the most popular database programs in the world. A report from 2016 by Gartner, a research company, said that Oracle had the largest share of the market for relational databases. This means more companies were using Oracle than its closest competitors. These competitors include companies like Microsoft, IBM, SAP, and Teradata.
In 2021, Gartner also named Oracle a leader in cloud database systems. This means Oracle is doing very well in providing databases over the internet.
Competition
Oracle Database has many competitors. In the world of traditional databases, it competes with products like IBM Db2 and Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle and IBM often compete for customers using Unix and Linux computer systems. Microsoft, on the other hand, is very strong on Microsoft Windows systems.
Even though they compete, Oracle and IBM often support each other's products. This is because many companies use software from both. For example, IBM's hardware teams work with Oracle to make servers run faster.
There are also other companies that offer specialized databases. These include Teradata for data warehousing and Sybase.
In the cloud, Oracle Database competes with services from big tech companies. These include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
More and more, Oracle also competes with open-source software databases. These are programs that are free to use and change. Examples include PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Neo4j. Oracle has even bought companies like Innobase (which made part of MySQL) and Sun Microsystems (which owned MySQL). This helps Oracle compete better against these free alternatives.
See also
In Spanish: Oracle Database para niños
- Comparison of relational database management systems
- Comparison of object–relational database management systems
- Database management system
- List of relational database management systems
- List of databases using MVCC
- Oracle SQL Developer
- Oracle Real Application Testing
