Suitable Databases for Process-Centered Environments Do not yet Exist

As early as 1987, Bernstein has argued that dedicated database systems for software engineering, specialised with respect to functionality as well as implementation, are necessary [7]. He argued that the functionality and e ciency of existing systems (in particular, relational systems) does not adequately support the construction of software engineering tools and environments. Many researchers have picked up on this and a number of systems, some of which di er radically from standard relational technology, have been described in the literature. Some of these are now available as commercial products. In this paper we argue that, despite the substantial number of proposed new database systems, a suitable database system for software development environments and especially process-centred environments does not yet exist. We do so by revising and re ning some of Bernstein's requirements based on our own experiences in building such environments and tools. The second part of the paper brie y reviews a number of available database systems and shows that they still lack important features required by software engineering tools and environments built on top of them.

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