This paper argues that comprehensions, a construct found in some programming languages, are a good query notation for DBPLs. It is shown that, like many other query notations, comprehensions can be smoothly integrated into DBPLs and allow queries to be expressed clearly, concisely and efficiently. More significantly, two advantages of comprehensions are demonstrated. The first advantage is that, unlike conventional notations, comprehension queries combine computational power with ease of optimisation. That is, not only can comprehension queries express both recursion and computation, but equivalent comprehension transformations exist for all of the major conventional optimisations. The second advantage is that comprehensions provide a uniform notation for expressing and performing some optimisation on queries over several bulk data types. The bulk types that comprehensions can be defined over include sets, relations, bags and lists. A DBPL can also be automatically extended to provide and partially optimise comprehension queries over new bulk types constructed by the application programmer, providing that the new type has some well-defined properties. 1

A Functional Database Phil Trinder D.Phil. Thesis Wolfson College Michaelmas Term, 1989 This thesis explores the use of functional languages to implement, manipulate and query databases. Implementing databases. A functional language is used to construct a database manager that allows efficient and concurrent access to shared data. In contrast to the locking mechanism found in conventional databases, the functional database uses data dependency to provide exclusion. Results obtained from a prototype database demonstrate that data dependency permits an unusual degree of concurrency between operations on the data. The prototype database is used to exhibit some problems that seriously restrict concurrency and also to demonstrate the resolution of these problems using a new primitive. The design of a more realistic database is outlined. Some restrictions on the data structures that can be used in a functional database are also uncovered. Manipulating databases. Functions over the database a...