Are Domestic Databases Really a Joke? Lessons from Oracle’s Early Years

Databases have always been regarded as a high‑end field in computer science. While some view basic CRUD operations as low‑tech, implementing a database involves algorithms, storage optimization, operating‑system interaction, and many other core concepts, making it an excellent way to assess and improve one’s technical abilities.

Oracle’s early history exemplifies the challenges of database development. Oracle 2, released in 1978, had no transaction support, no commit/rollback, and relied on file‑system copies for backup. A manufacturing customer suffered a $50,000 loss when a power failure left half‑written records unrecoverable.

Subsequent versions added features incrementally but remained fragile. Oracle 3 lacked primary‑key and foreign‑key constraints, leading a retailer to duplicate order numbers, causing $100,000 of bad debt that required a full‑table scan to clean. Oracle 4 introduced a client/server model, yet network‑level errors caused corrupted query results for a multinational firm.

Oracle 5 supported distributed transactions, but its two‑phase commit was unreliable; an e‑commerce site experienced a “hung” transaction that locked order and inventory tables for eight hours, forcing manual log deletion. Oracle 6 added row‑level locking, but a bug caused lock upgrades to table locks, blocking a telecom operator’s billing system for four hours and harming monthly revenue.

Only with Oracle 7 (1992) did the product achieve the stability and feature completeness that earned it the reputation of “the king of databases.” The author uses this evolution to argue that any technology undergoes awkward phases before maturing.

Applying this perspective to domestic databases, the author notes that many are built on open‑source foundations such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, while others like Dameng are native. Although still in early stages, these systems can provide a solid training ground for low‑level talent, and with sufficient technical accumulation they will eventually enjoy their own “spring.”