Object-Oriented Database Systems: Promises, Reality, and Future

During the past decade, object-oriented technology has found its way into programming languages, user interfaces, databases, operating systems, expert systems, etc. Products labeled as object-oriented database systems have been in the market for several years, and vendors of relational database systems are now declaring that they will extend their products with object-oriented capabilities. A few vendors are now offering database systems that combine relational and object-oriented capabilities in one database system. Despite these activities, there are still many myths and much confusion about object-oriented database systems, relational systems extended with object-oriented capabilities, and even the necessities of such systems among users, trade journals, and even vendors. The objective of lhis paper is to review the promises of object-oriented database systems, examine the reality, and how their promises may be fulfilled through unification with the relational technology.