MIT Database Systems (6.830) TA Course Notes - marcua's blog
http://blog.marcua.net/post/117671929/mit-database-systems-6-830-ta-course-notes

Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Navigate * Website * Twitter * Subscribe * Archives * Random Subscribe by Email MIT Database Systems (6.830) TA Course Notes In Fall 2008, I had the pleasure of TAing Database Systems with Sam Madden, Mike Stonebraker, and Evan Jones. I figured that I could take notes to help students follow the lectures while clarifying any confusing points that were raised during discussion. It would also help me avoid the embarrassment of forgetting something mentioned during a lecture and having students explain it to me during office hours:). I decided to take notes in plain text, mostly out of laziness. This turned out to be a challenge for drawing things like query plans, but forced me to distill explanations into a conversational tone that provided an alternative to traditional diagrams. Some students in the class told me that they benefited from and enjoyed the notes, and so I decided to open them up for reuse

Relational databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and various commercial products, have served us well for many years. Lately, however, there has been a lot of discussion on whether the relational model is reaching the end of its life-span, and what may come after it.

Alternatives to SQL dbs - document, key-value, graph databases

Great presentation about good SQL practice.

interesting but it's a slideshow rather than an article

"Relational database management systems (DBMSs) have been remarkably successful in capturing the DBMS marketplace. To a first approximation they are “the only game in town,” and the major vendors (IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft) enjoy an overwhelming market share. They are selling “one size fits all”; i.e., a single relational engine appropriate for all DBMS needs. Moreover, the code line from all of the major vendors is quite elderly, in all cases dating from the 1980s. Hence, the major vendors sell software that is a quarter century old, and has been extended and morphed to meet today’s needs. In my opinion, these legacy systems are at the end of their useful life. They deserve to be sent to the “home for tired software.” Here’s why."

SQL is Scalable and NoSQL Isn’t For Everyone The point is one that I think all rational people already realize: The ACID RDBMS isn’t appropriate for every need, nor is the NoSQL solution.

"[Though as Michael Stonebraker points out, SQL the query language actually has remarkably little to actually to do with the debate. It would be more clearly called NoACID]"