Answer: the commercial introduction of relational database delayed during the 1970s due to:
1. It was not easily applicable in real-world environments due to performance related issues.
2. Earlier network and heirachical database management systems were emerging into the commercial markets where they were heavily advertised by software and hardware vendors.
Factors that encouraged its introduction in the early 1980s include:
1. Performance issues that rendered it not easily applicable in the real world began to be resolved.
2. Information systems users sought alternatives that would help simplify database design process thus producing database structures that were easier to use and understand at various levels.
3. There was increasing interest in having a data base management system environment that allows more easier, intuitive access to the data by very large number of personnel.
4. The personal computer coming into existence had software developers creating all manner of applications and supporting software utilities for the personal computer. Existing hierarchical and network database approaches would not work in the PC environment, because they were too large to store, too complex to be used by non-information systems users to whom the PCs were targeted.
Explanation: In the 1970s, the relational approach to database was just a technical curiosity until the start of the 1980s when commercially viable relational database management systems became available. This lag in adoption was as a result of two reasons:
1. It was not easily applicable in real-world environments due to performance related issues.
2. Earlier network and heirachical database management systems were emerging into the commercial markets where they were heavily advertised by software and hardware vendors.
Factors that encouraged its introduction in the early 1980s were:
1. Performance issues that rendered it not easily applicable in the real world began to be resolved.
2. Information systems users sought alternatives that would help simplify database design process thus producing database structures that were easier to use and understand at various levels.
3. There was increasing interest in having a data base management system environment that allows more easier, intuitive access to the data by very large number of personnel.
4. The personal computer coming into existence had software developers creating all manner of applications and supporting software utilities for the personal computer. Existing hierarchical and network database approaches would not work in the PC environment, because they were too large to store, too complex to be used by non-information systems users to whom the PCs were targeted.
Nowadays, the relational approach to database management is the primary database management approach used in all levels of information systems and foremost application purposes.
