This paper surveys the development of programming languages designed for database applications. The major difference between these languages and traditional ones, such as Ada or Pascal, is the concept of persistence--the ability of the language to create objects that exist beyond the execution of the program.

First, the paper discusses three primary attributes of DBMS languages: persistence, type completeness, and expressive power. Type completeness in a language allows the programmer to use any data type in any context requiring a type, and expressive power ensures the ability to write statements that provide the desired manipulation of data objects. The authors then describe a sample database problem. They first provide a solution in Pascal, as an example, and then present alternative solutions from a variety of sources, including SQL, CODASYL DDC, Pascal/R, Daplex, FQL, Taxis, Galileo, ML, Poly, PS-Algol, and Amber.

This paper is a good summary of current developments in DBMS languages. It clearly presents the major features needed in such languages and gives a good overview of what is available.