Relational Playground: Teaching the Duality of Relational Algebra and SQL

Abstract

Students in introductory data management courses are often taught how to write queries in SQL. This is a useful and practical skill, but it gives limited insight into how queries are processed by relational database engines. In contrast, relational algebra is a commonly used internal representation of queries by database engines, but can be challenging for students to grasp. We developed a tool we call Relational Playground for database students to explore the connection between relational algebra and SQL.

Michael Mior

Assistant Professor

My research focuses on data integration and understanding for non-relational data.