Making deductive databases a practical technology: a step forward

Abstract

Deductive databases provide a formal framework to study rule-based query languages that are extensions of first-order logic. However, deductive database languages and their current implementations do not seem appropriate for improving the development of real applications or even sample of them. Our goal is to make deductive database technology practical. The design and implementation of the RDL1 system, presented in this paper, constitute a step toward this goal. Our approach is based on the integration of a production rule language within a relational database system, the development of a rule-based programming environment and the support of system extensibility using Abstract Data Types. We discuss important practical experience gained during the implementation of the system. Also, comparisons with related work such as LDL, STARBURST and POSTGRES are given.