Structured data

- Data is said to be structured…when it's placed in a file with fixed fields or variables.…The most familiar example of this kind of structured…database is a spreadsheet.…Where every column is a variable…and every row is a case or observation.…In the business world however,…large data sets are usually stored in databases.…Relational databases to be specific,…which share some characteristics with spreadsheets…such as rows and columns,…but allow for much larger data sets,…more flexibility, and more constancy.…A recent survey of database users found that…nearly 80 percent use some form of relational database…with Microsoft SQL server, MySQL, and Oracle…as the most common options.…

Now, before I say anymore,…I need to give you a very brief history of SQL databases.…In the early 70's researchers at IBM…wrote a paper describing the…Structured English Query Language…or SQL written as the word.…Name was later changed to SQL because of a copyright issue,…but it's still generally pronounced “sequel”.…IBM however did not commercially launch SQL.…