1981 埃德加·科德

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Edgar F. Codd
BIRTH:
August 19th, 1923, Isle of Portland, England

DEATH:
April 18th, 2003, Williams Island, Florida

EDUCATION:
Honors degree in mathematics (B.A., subsequently M.A.), Exeter College, Oxford University, England (1942 and 1948); M.Sc. and Ph.D., computer and communication sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (1961 and 1965).

EXPERIENCE:
Flight lieutenant, Royal Air Force (1942-1946); lecturer in mathematics, University of Tennessee (1949); programming mathematician and computer scientist, IBM (1949-1953 and 1957-1984); head of data processing, Computing Devices of Canada (1953-1957); chief scientist, The Relational Institute (1985-1994). Codd was also active at various times on various editorial boards, including those of the IBM Systems Programming Series of books, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, ACM Transactions on Database Systems, and the Journal of Information Systems.

HONORS AND AWARDS:
Fellow, British Computer Society (1974); IBM Fellow (1976); ACM Turing Award (1981); Elected member, National Academy of Engineering (1981); IDUG 1st Annual Achievement Award (1986); ACM Fellow (1994); Elected member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994); IEEE Computer Pioneer Award (1996); DAMA International Achievement Award (2001); Inductee, Computing Industry Hall of Fame (2004, post.); and Member, Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.
In 2004, the ACM Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD), with the unanimous approval of ACM Council, decided to change the name of its annual innovations award to the SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award to honor Codd who invented the relational model and was responsible for the significant development of the database field as a scientific discipline. SIGMOD, now one of the largest of the ACM Special Interest Groups, had its origins in an earlier ACM organization called SICFIDET (Special Interest Committee on File Definition and Translation), which was founded by Codd himself in 1970.

EDGAR F. ("TED") CODD DL Author Profile link
United States – 1981
CITATION
For his fundamental and continuing contributions to the theory and practice of database management systems.

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Edgar Frank (Ted) Codd, the youngest of seven children, was born August 19th, 1923, on the Isle of Portland in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. His father was a leather manufacturer and his mother a schoolteacher. During the 1930s he attended Poole Grammar School in Dorset. He was awarded a full scholarship to Oxford University (Exeter College), where he initially read chemistry (1941 1942). In 1942—despite the fact that he was eligible for a deferment because of his studies— he volunteered for active duty and became a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, flying Sunderlands. After the war he returned to Oxford to complete his studies, switching to mathematics and obtaining his degree in 1948.

As part of his service in the RAF, Codd was sent to the United States for aviation training. That experience led to a lifelong love of recreational flying, also to a recognition that the United States had a great deal to offer for someone of a creative bent like himself. As a consequence, he emigrated to the United States soon after graduating in 1948. After a brief period with Macy’s in New York City, working as a sales clerk in the men’s sportswear department, he found a job as a mathematics lecturer at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he taught for six months.

Codd’s computing career began in 1949, when he joined IBM in New York City as a programming mathematician, developing programs for the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (IBM’s first electronic—or at least electromechanical—computer, a huge and noisy vacuum tube machine). He also lived for a brief period in Washington DC, where he worked on IBM’s Card Programmed Electronic Calculator. In the early 1950s, he became involved in the design and development of IBM’s 701 computer. (The 701, originally known as the Defense Calculator, was IBM’s first commercially available computer for scientific processing; it was announced in 1952 and formally unveiled in 1953.)

In 1953, Codd left the United States (and IBM) in protest against Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunting and moved to Ottawa, Canada, where he ran the data processing department for Computing Devices of Canada Limited (which was involved in the development of the Canadian guided missile program). A chance meeting with his old IBM manager led to his return to the U.S. in 1957, when he rejoined IBM. Now based in Poughkeepsie, New York, he worked on the design of STRETCH (i.e., the IBM 7030, which subsequently led to IBM’s 7090 mainframe technology); in particular, he led the team that developed the world’s first multiprogramming system. (“Multiprogramming” refers to the ability of programs that have been developed independently of one another to execute concurrently. The basic idea is that while one program is waiting for some event to occur, such as the completion of a read or write operation, another program can be allowed to make use of the computer’s central processing unit. Multiprogramming is now standard on essentially all computer systems except for the smallest personal computers.) In 1961, on an IBM scholarship, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended the University of Michigan and obtained an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in communication sciences (1965). His thesis—which was published by Academic Press in 1968 under the title Cellular Automata—represented a continuation and simplification of von Neumann’s work on self-reproducing automata; in it, Codd showed that the 29 states required by von Neumann’s scheme could be reduced to just eight.

During this period Codd also became a U.S. citizen—though he never lost his British accent, his British sense of humor, or his British love for a good cup of tea.

Codd then returned to IBM Poughkeepsie, where he worked on high level techniques for software specification. He then turned his attention to database issues and in 1968 transferred to the IBM Research Laboratory in San Jose, California. (He subsequently claimed that what initially motivated him in this research was a presentation by a representative from a database company who seemed—incredibly, so far as Codd was concerned—to have no knowledge or understanding of predicate logic.) Several database products did indeed exist at that time; however, they were without exception ad hoc, cumbersome, and difficult to use—they could really only be used by people having highly specialized technical skills—and they rested on no solid theoretical foundation. Codd recognized the need for such a foundation and, applying his knowledge of mathematical logic, was able to provide one by creating the invention with which his name will forever be associated: the relational model of data.

The relational model is widely recognized as one of the great technical achievements of the 20th century. It revolutionized the way databases were perceived; indeed, it transformed the entire database field—which previously consisted of little more than a collection of ad hoc products, proposals, and techniques—into a respectable scientific (and academic) discipline. More specifically, it provided a theoretical framework within which a variety of important database problems could be attacked in a scientific manner. As a consequence, it is no exaggeration to say that essentially all databases in use or under development today are based on Codd’s ideas. Whenever anyone uses an ATM machine, or purchases an airline ticket, or uses a credit card, he or she is effectively relying on Codd’s invention.

Codd described his model further and explored its implications in a series of research papers, staggering in their originality, that he published over the next several years (see annotated bibliography). Throughout this period, he was helpful and supportive to all who approached him—the author of these notes included— with a serious interest in learning more or with a view to helping disseminate, and perhaps elaborate on, his ideas. At the same time, he was steadfast and unyielding in defending those same ideas from adverse criticism.
It should be noted, incidentally, that the relational model was in fact the very first abstract database model to be defined. Thus, Codd not only invented the relational model in particular, he actually invented the data model concept in general.

During the 1970s Codd also explored the possibility of constructing a natural language question and answer application on top of a relational database system, leading a small team that built a prototype of such an application, called Rendezvous. Rendezvous allowed a user with no knowledge of database systems (and with, perhaps, only limited knowledge of the exact content of the database) to engage in a dialog with the system, starting with a query—possibly not very precisely stated—and winding up with a precise query and corresponding answer, where the entire dialog was conducted in natural language (English, in the case of the prototype).

Throughout this time, Codd continued to be employed by IBM. Perhaps because it was heavily invested in its existing nonrelational database product IMS and was anxious to preserve the revenue from that product, however, IBM itself was initially quite unreceptive (not to say hostile) to Codd’s relational ideas. As a consequence, other vendors, including Relational Software Inc. (later renamed Oracle Corporation) and Relational Technology Inc. (later renamed Ingres Corporation), were able to steal a march on IBM and bring products to market well before IBM did. Seeing the way the winds were blowing, senior IBM management decided in the late 1970s that IBM should build a relational product of its own. That decision resulted in the announcement of SQL/DS for the VSE environment in 1981 and DB2 for the MVS environment in 1983.

In Codd’s opinion, however, those IBM products, though clearly superior to their nonrelational predecessors, were less than fully satisfactory because their support for the relational model was incomplete (and in places incorrect). Partly for that reason, Codd resigned from IBM in 1984. After a year or so working as an independent consultant, in 1985 he formed, along with colleagues Sharon Weinberg (later Sharon Codd) and Chris Date, two companies—The Relational Institute and Codd & Date Consulting Group—specializing in all aspects of relational database management, relational database design, and database product evaluation. (C&DCG subsequently grew into a family of related companies, including a parent company called Codd & Date International and a European subsidiary called Codd & Date Limited.)

Over the next several years, Codd saw the relational database industry grow and flourish, to the point where it was—and continues to be—worth many tens of billions of dollars a year (though he himself never benefited directly from that huge financial growth). Throughout that period, and indeed for the remainder of his professional life, he worked tirelessly to encourage vendors to develop fully relational products and to educate users, vendors, and standards organizations regarding the services such a product would provide and why users need such services. He was also interested in the possibility of extending his relational ideas to support complex data analysis, coining the term OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) as a convenient label for such activities. At the time of his death, he was investigating the possibility of applying his ideas to the problem of general business automation.

Codd died April 18th, 2003, in Williams Island, Florida. He is survived by his wife Sharon; his first wife Libby; a daughter, Katherine; three sons, Ronald, Frank, and David; and several grandchildren.

Author: C. J. Date



埃德加-F-科德
出生地：英国
1923年8月19日，英格兰的波特兰岛

逝世
2003年4月18日，威廉姆斯岛，佛罗里达

学历。
英国牛津大学埃克塞特学院数学荣誉学位（学士，后为硕士）（1942年和1948年）；密歇根大学计算机和通信科学硕士和博士，密歇根州安阿伯（1961和1965年）。

经历。
皇家空军飞行中尉（1942-1946）；田纳西大学数学讲师（1949）；IBM公司编程数学家和计算机科学家（1949-1953和1957-1984）；加拿大计算设备公司数据处理主管（1953-1957）；关系研究所首席科学家（1985-1994）。科德还在不同时期活跃于各种编辑委员会，包括IBM系统编程系列书籍、IEEE软件工程的反应、ACM数据库系统的反应和信息系统的杂志。

荣誉和奖项。
英国计算机学会研究员（1974年）；IBM研究员（1976年）；ACM图灵奖（1981年）；国家工程院当选成员（1981年）；IDUG第一届年度成就奖（1986年）；ACM研究员（1994年）；美国艺术与科学学院当选成员（1994年）；IEEE计算机先锋奖（1996年）；DAMA国际成就奖（2001年）；计算机行业名人堂入选者（2004年，后）；Phi Beta Kappa和Sigma Xi成员。
2004年，ACM数据管理特别兴趣小组（SIGMOD）在ACM理事会的一致同意下，决定将其年度创新奖的名称改为SIGMOD埃德加-科德创新奖，以纪念发明了关系模型并对数据库领域作为一门科学学科的重大发展负有责任的科德。SIGMOD，现在是ACM最大的特别兴趣小组之一，起源于ACM早期的组织SICFIDET（文件定义和翻译特别兴趣委员会），该组织由Codd本人在1970年创立。

EDGAR F. ("TED") CODD DL作者简介链接
美国 - 1981年
褒奖
由于他对数据库管理系统的理论和实践的基本和持续贡献。

简短注释
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亚马逊图灵奖
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埃德加-弗兰克（特德）-科德，七个孩子中最小的一个，1923年8月19日出生在英格兰南海岸多塞特郡的波特兰岛。他的父亲是一名皮革制造商，母亲是一名教师。1930年代，他在多塞特郡的普尔文法学校上学。他获得了牛津大学（埃克塞特学院）的全额奖学金，最初在那里读化学（1941年至1942年）。1942年--尽管他因为学业有资格获得缓期执行的资格--他自愿服役，成为皇家空军海岸司令部的一名飞行中尉，驾驶桑德兰飞机。战后，他回到牛津大学完成学业，改学数学，并于1948年获得学位。

作为他在皇家空军服役的一部分，科德被派往美国接受航空训练。这一经历使他终生热爱休闲飞行，也使他认识到美国对像他这样具有创造性倾向的人有很大的帮助。因此，他在1948年毕业后不久就移民到了美国。在纽约市梅西百货公司短暂工作了一段时间后，他在男式运动装部门担任销售员，在诺克斯维尔的田纳西大学找到了一份数学讲师的工作，在那里他教了六个月。

科德的计算生涯始于1949年，当时他在纽约市的IBM公司担任编程数学家，为选择性序列电子计算器（IBM的第一台电子计算机--或者至少是机电计算机，一台巨大而嘈杂的真空管机）开发程序。他还在华盛顿特区短暂居住过一段时间，在那里他从事IBM的卡片编程电子计算器的工作。在20世纪50年代初，他参与了IBM的701计算机的设计和开发。(701，最初被称为国防计算器，是IBM第一台用于科学处理的商业计算机；它于1952年宣布，1953年正式亮相）。

1953年，科德离开了美国（和IBM），以抗议参议员约瑟夫-麦卡锡的迫害，并搬到了加拿大渥太华，在那里他负责加拿大计算设备有限公司的数据处理部门（该公司参与了加拿大导弹计划的开发）。一次与他的IBM老经理的偶然会面，使他在1957年回到美国，重新加入了IBM。现在他在纽约的波基普西，从事STRETCH的设计工作（即IBM 7030，后来导致了IBM的7090大型机技术）；特别是，他领导的团队开发了世界上第一个多编程系统。("多编程 "是指独立开发的程序能够同时执行。其基本思想是，当一个程序在等待某些事件发生时，如完成一个读或写操作，另一个程序可以被允许使用计算机的中央处理单元。现在，除了最小的个人计算机外，多程序设计基本上是所有计算机系统的标准配置）。1961年，在IBM的奖学金下，他搬到了密歇根州的安阿伯，在那里他进入密歇根大学，并获得了通讯科学的硕士和博士学位（1965年）。他的论文--1968年由学术出版社出版，标题为《细胞自动机》--代表了冯-诺依曼关于自我复制自动机工作的延续和简化；在论文中，科德表明，冯-诺依曼的方案所需的29个状态可以减少到只有8个。

在此期间，科德也成为了美国公民--尽管他从未失去他的英国口音，他的英国幽默感，以及他对一杯好茶的英国式热爱。

科德随后回到了IBM波基普西，在那里他从事软件规范的高级技术工作。然后他把注意力转向数据库问题，并于1968年调到加州圣何塞的IBM研究实验室。(他后来声称，最初促使他进行这项研究的是一个数据库公司的代表的演讲，这个代表似乎--令人信服地，就Codd而言--对谓词逻辑没有任何知识或理解。） 当时确实存在一些数据库产品；但是，它们无一例外都是临时性的、繁琐的、难以使用的--它们实际上只能由具有高度专业技术技能的人使用，而且它们没有坚实的理论基础。科德认识到需要这样一个基础，并运用他的数学逻辑知识，通过创造与他的名字永远联系在一起的发明，提供了一个基础：数据的关系模型。

关系模型被广泛认为是20世纪最伟大的技术成就之一。它彻底改变了人们对数据库的看法；事实上，它将整个数据库领域--以前只不过是一些临时产品、建议和技术的集合--转变为一门值得尊敬的科学（和学术）学科。更具体地说，它提供了一个理论框架，在这个框架内，各种重要的数据库问题都可以以科学的方式得到解决。因此，可以毫不夸张地说，今天所有正在使用或正在开发的数据库都是基于Codd的思想。每当有人使用ATM机，或购买机票，或使用信用卡时，他或她实际上是在依赖Codd的发明。

科德在接下来的几年里发表的一系列研究论文中进一步描述了他的模型并探讨了其含义，其原创性令人吃惊（见注释书目）。在这一时期，他对所有与他接触的人--包括这些笔记的作者--都给予了帮助和支持，这些人有兴趣了解更多信息，或希望帮助传播和阐述他的观点。同时，他也坚定不移地捍卫这些想法，不受不利批评的影响。
应该指出的是，关系模型实际上是第一个被定义的抽象数据库模型。因此，Codd不仅发明了关系模型，他还发明了一般的数据模型概念。

在20世纪70年代，科德还探索了在关系型数据库系统之上构建自然语言问答应用程序的可能性，他领导的一个小团队建立了这样一个应用程序的原型，称为Rendezvous。Rendezvous允许没有数据库系统知识的用户（也许对数据库的确切内容只有有限的了解）与系统进行对话，从一个疑问开始--可能不是非常精确的陈述--最后得到一个精确的查询和相应的答案，整个对话是用自然语言进行的（在原型的情况下是英语）。

在这段时间里，科德继续受雇于IBM。也许是因为IBM在其现有的非关系型数据库产品IMS上投入了大量资金，并急于保留该产品的收入，然而，IBM本身最初对Codd的关系型理念并不接受（不能说是敌视）。因此，其他供应商，包括Relational Software Inc. (后来改名为Oracle公司)和Relational Technology Inc. (后来改名为Ingres公司)，能够在IBM面前抢占先机，并在IBM之前将产品推向市场。看到风向的变化，IBM的高级管理层在70年代末决定，IBM应该建立一个属于自己的关系型产品。这一决定的结果是，1981年宣布了用于VSE环境的SQL/DS，1983年宣布了用于MVS环境的DB2。

然而，在Codd看来，IBM的这些产品虽然明显优于它们的非关系型产品，但由于它们对关系型模型的支持并不完整（而且在某些地方是不正确的），所以并不完全令人满意。部分由于这个原因，科德在1984年从IBM辞职。在作为独立顾问工作了一年左右后，1985年他与同事Sharon Weinberg（后来的Sharon Codd）和Chris Date一起成立了两家公司--关系研究所和Codd & Date咨询集团，专门从事关系数据库管理、关系数据库设计和数据库产品评估的所有方面。(C&DCG后来发展成为一个相关公司的家族，包括一个名为Codd & Date International的母公司和一个名为Codd & Date Limited的欧洲子公司。)

在接下来的几年里，Codd见证了关系型数据库行业的发展和繁荣，达到了每年价值数百亿美元的程度（尽管他本人从未直接从这种巨大的财务增长中受益）。在那个时期，甚至在他余下的职业生涯中，他孜孜不倦地鼓励供应商开发完全的关系型产品，并教育用户、供应商和标准组织了解这种产品将提供的服务以及为什么用户需要这种服务。他还对扩展他的关系思想以支持复杂的数据分析的可能性感兴趣，并创造了OLAP（在线分析处理）这一术语作为这种活动的方便标签。在他去世的时候，他正在研究将他的思想应用于一般商业自动化问题的可能性。

科德于2003年4月18日在佛罗里达州的威廉姆斯岛去世。他的妻子莎朗、第一任妻子利比、女儿凯瑟琳、三个儿子罗纳德、弗兰克和大卫以及几个孙子。

作者：C: C. J. Date