Abstract

languages such as Smalltalk or C++ to attain "object-oriented databases ". The common understanding behind these systems is that databases support querying, through "query languages" which fall short of full programming capability. There is a need for more than query languages, and so these extensions have been made. This understanding of databases is limited. It goes without saying that a language for secondary storage should offer full programming capabilities, and not be limited to "querying". Regrettably, this has not been obvious to builders of database systems, and, indeed, current vocabulary enshrines the distinction between the "two types" of language. For example, the term "on-line analytical processing" (OLAP) had to be coined to describe a supposed new dimension, distinct from "on-line transaction processing" (OLTP), to permit thinking about programming as opposed to querying, while, in fact, querying is just a special case of programming. In

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