In computer science, relational algebra is an offshoot of first-order logic and of algebra of sets concerned with operations over finitary relations, usually made more convenient to work with by identifying the components of a tuple by a name (called attribute) rather than by a numeric column index, which is what is called a relation in database terminology.
The main application of relational algebra is providing a theoretical foundation for relational databases, particularly query languages for such databases, chiefly among which is SQL.
Read more about Relational Algebra: Introduction, Primitive Operations, Common Extensions, Use of Algebraic Properties For Query Optimization, Implementations
Famous quotes containing the word algebra:
“Poetry has become the higher algebra of metaphors.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)