Re: How do sqlservers work!

On Thursday 27 Feb 2003 3:36 pm, wmac wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I had posted this in "novice" group but as I did not get any reply I am
> posting again here.
>
> I am working on a small article (educational article as a part of my
> course) about SQL servers and I have some general questions and I'll
> appereciate if someone can answer. (just small replies so that I can
> find my way and look for more info).

Not really PostgreSQL specific stuff, but...

> 1- How do SQL servers put datas in files? I am a C Programmer and I have
> developped programs for MySQL/MSSQL/Oravle/PostgreSQL.

There's no real connection between using SQL as a query language and the
format of your data file(s).

> 2- Is there a verys small SQL server that I can take a look at some
> parts of the code and I can have a view of their structure?

Look below for a large number of open-source database servers of various sizes
shapes and religious persuasions:

http://freshmeat.net/browse/67/?topic_id=67

There have been projects building simple SQL databases in "pure" java,python
etc. - these are probably what you want.

> 3- Can you give me some advice on how can I gather enough information to
> be able to develop a very very small SQL server with just 4 commands
> (doing simple SELECT, INSERT, CREATE DATABASE and CREATE TABLE with
> simple options).

Make your life simple and try to find libraries that can help you with
parsing, data-file management etc. No point in re-inventing the wheel any
more than you have to.

> I want to work on this for my M.Sc project.

It might be more rewarding to make a real contribution to an existing project
- that way your work can be used in the real world. Of course, the demands of
your course may say otherwise.

--
  Richard Huxton