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12<td><b><dl><dt>Berkeley DB Reference Guide:<dd>Introduction</dl></b></td>
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15<p align=center><b>An introduction to data management</b></p>
16<p>Cheap, powerful computing and networking have created countless new
17applications that could not have existed a decade ago. The advent of the
18World-Wide Web, and its influence in driving the Internet into homes and
19businesses, is one obvious example. Equally important, though, is the
20shift from large, general-purpose desktop and server computers toward
21smaller, special-purpose devices with built-in processing and
22communications services.</p>
23<p>As computer hardware has spread into virtually every corner of our
24lives, of course, software has followed. Software developers today are
25building applications not just for conventional desktop and server
26environments, but also for handheld computers, home appliances,
27networking hardware, cars and trucks, factory floor automation systems,
28and more.</p>
29<p>While these operating environments are diverse, the problems that
30software engineers must solve in them are often strikingly similar. Most
31systems must deal with the outside world, whether that means
32communicating with users or controlling machinery. As a result, most
33need some sort of I/O system. Even a simple, single-function system
34generally needs to handle multiple tasks, and so needs some kind of
35operating system to schedule and manage control threads. Also, many
36computer systems must store and retrieve data to track history, record
37configuration settings, or manage access.</p>
38<p>Data management can be very simple. In some cases, just recording
39configuration in a flat text file is enough. More often, though,
40programs need to store and search a large amount of data, or
41structurally complex data. Database management systems are tools that
42programmers can use to do this work quickly and efficiently using
43off-the-shelf software.</p>
44<p>Of course, database management systems have been around for a long time.
45Data storage is a problem dating back to the earliest days of computing.
46Software developers can choose from hundreds of good,
47commercially-available database systems. The problem is selecting the
48one that best solves the problems that their applications face.</p>
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