Databases
Summary: Specialized data systems optimized for storing, retrieving, and manipulating data.
Sources: chapter1, chapter12
Last updated: 2026-04-18
The word “database” is a broad term encompassing many different types of systems, each optimized for different workloads and data models.
Evolution
- Relational Databases (SQL): Structured data with strong transactional guarantees (source: chapter2).
- NoSQL Databases: Scalable, flexible data stores for unstructured or semi-structured data (source: chapter2).
- Distributed Databases: Systems that distribute data and processing across multiple nodes (source: chapter5).
Unbundling
In recent years, the trend has been toward “unbundling” database functions into specialized, composed services like message brokers, caches, and stream processors (source: chapter12).