A relational DBMS is special system software that is used to manage
the organization, storage, access, security and integrity of data.
This specialized software allows application systems to focus on the user
interface, data validation and screen navigation. When there is a need
to add, modify, delete or display data, the application system simply makes a
"call" to the RDBMS.
Although there are many different types of
database management systems, relational databases are by far the most
common. Other types include hierarchical databases and
network databases.
Although database management systems have been around since the 1960s,
relational databases didn't become popular until the 1980s when the power of
the computer skyrocketed and it became
feasible to store data is sets of related tables and provided
real-time data access.
