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{{Short description|Type of database management system}}
[[File:Object-Oriented Model.svg|thumb|320px|Example of an object-oriented model<ref name="USDT01">[http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/tam/aashto.nsf/All+Documents/4825476B2B5C687285256B1F00544258/$FILE/DIGloss.pdf Data Integration Glossary] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320001015/http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/tam/aashto.nsf/All+Documents/4825476B2B5C687285256B1F00544258/$FILE/DIGloss.pdf |date=March 20, 2009 }}, U.S. Department of Transportation, August 2001.</ref>]]

An '''object database''' or '''object-oriented database'''  is a database management system in which information is represented in the form of [[Object (computer science)|objects]] as used in [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented programming]]. Object databases are different from [[Relational database|relational database]]s which are table-oriented. A third type, [[Object–relational database|object–relational database]]s, is a hybrid of both approaches.
Object databases have been considered since the early 1980s.<ref>[http://odbms.org/Introduction/history.aspx ODBMS.ORG :: Object Database (ODBMS) | Object-Oriented Database (OODBMS) | Free Resource Portal]. ODBMS (2013-08-31). Retrieved on 2013-09-18. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306143204/http://odbms.org/Introduction/history.aspx |date=March 6, 2014 }}</ref>

==Overview==
Object-oriented database management systems (OODBMSs) also called ODBMS (Object Database Management System)  combine database capabilities with [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented programming]] language capabilities.
OODBMSs allow object-oriented programmers to develop the product, store them as objects, and replicate or modify existing objects to make new objects within the OODBMS. Because the database is integrated with the programming language, the programmer can maintain consistency within one environment, in that both the OODBMS and the programming language will use the same model of representation. Relational DBMS projects, by way of contrast, maintain a clearer division between the [[Database model|database model]] and the application.

As the usage of web-based technology increases with the implementation of Intranets and extranets, companies have a vested interest in OODBMSs to display their complex data. Using a DBMS that has been specifically designed to store data as objects gives an advantage to those companies that are geared towards multimedia presentation or organizations that utilize [[Engineering:Computer-aided design|computer-aided design]] (CAD).<ref>O’Brien, J. A., & Marakas, G. M. (2009). Management Information Systems (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin</ref>

Some object-oriented databases are designed to work well with object-oriented programming languages such as [[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], JavaScript, [[Perl]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], [[Visual Basic .NET]], [[C++]], [[Objective-C]] and [[Smalltalk]]; others such as [[JADE (programming language)|JADE]] have their own programming languages. OODBMSs use exactly the same model as object-oriented programming languages.

==History==
Object database management systems grew out of research during the early to mid-1970s into having intrinsic database management support for graph-structured objects. The term "object-oriented database system" first appeared around 1985.<ref>Three example references from 1985 that use the term: T. Atwood, "An Object-Oriented DBMS for Design Support Applications", ''Proceedings of the IEEE COMPINT 85'', pp. 299-307, September 1985; N. Derrett, W. Kent, and P. Lyngbaek, "Some Aspects of Operations in an Object-Oriented Database", ''Database Engineering'', vol. 8, no. 4, IEEE Computer Society, December 1985; D. Maier, A. Otis, and A. Purdy, "Object-Oriented Database Development at Servio Logic", ''Database Engineering'', vol. 18, no.4, December 1985.</ref> Notable research projects included Encore-Ob/Server ([[Organization:Brown University|Brown University]]), EXODUS ([[Organization:University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin–Madison]]), IRIS (Hewlett-Packard), ODE ([[Organization:Bell Labs|Bell Labs]]), ORION ([[Company:Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation|Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation]] or MCC), Vodak (GMD-IPSI), and Zeitgeist (Texas Instruments). The ORION project had more published papers than any of the other efforts. Won Kim of MCC compiled the best of those papers in a book published by The MIT Press.<ref>Kim, Won. ''Introduction to Object-Oriented Databases. '' The MIT Press, 1990. {{ISBN|0-262-11124-1}}</ref>

Early commercial products included Gemstone (Servio Logic, name changed to GemStone Systems), Gbase (Graphael), and Vbase (Ontologic). Additional commercial products entered the market in the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. These included ITASCA (Itasca Systems), Jasmine (Fujitsu, marketed by Computer Associates), Matisse (Matisse Software), Objectivity/DB (Objectivity, Inc.), [[Software:ObjectStore|ObjectStore]] ([[Company:Progress Software|Progress Software]], acquired from eXcelon which was originally [[Company:Object Design, Incorporated|Object Design, Incorporated]]), ONTOS (Ontos, Inc., name changed from Ontologic), O<sub>2</sub><ref>Bancilhon, Francois; Delobel,Claude; and Kanellakis, Paris. ''Building an Object-Oriented Database System: The Story of O<sub>2</sub>.'' Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55860-169-4}}.</ref> (O<sub>2</sub> Technology, merged with several companies, acquired by [[Software:Informix|Informix]], which was in turn acquired by [[Company:IBM|IBM]]), POET (now [http://www.versant.com/developer FastObjects] from Versant which acquired Poet Software), Versant Object Database ([http://www.versant.com Versant] Corporation), VOSS (Logic Arts) and [[JADE (programming language)|JADE]] (Jade Software Corporation). Some of these products remain on the market and have been joined by new open source and commercial products such as [[Software:InterSystems Caché|InterSystems Caché]].

Object database management systems added the concept of [[Persistence (computer science)|persistence]] to object programming languages. The early commercial products were integrated with various languages: GemStone ([[Smalltalk]]), Gbase (LISP), Vbase ([[C Object Processor|COP]]) and VOSS (Virtual Object Storage System for [[Smalltalk]]). For much of the 1990s, [[C++]] dominated the commercial object database management market. Vendors added Java in the late 1990s and more recently, [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]].

Starting in 2004, object databases have seen a second growth period when [[Open-source software|open source]] object databases emerged that were widely affordable and easy to use, because they are entirely written in [[Object-oriented programming|OOP]] languages like Smalltalk, Java, or C#, such as Versant's [[Software:Db4o|db4o]] (db4objects), DTS/S1 from Obsidian Dynamics and [[Software:Perst|Perst]] (McObject), available under dual [[Open-source license|open source]] and commercial licensing.'''

==Timeline==
* 1966
** [[MUMPS]]
* 1979
** [[Company:InterSystems|InterSystems]] M
* 1980
** TORNADO – an object database for CAD/CAM<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ulfsby|title=TORNADO: a DBMS for CAD/CAM systems|journal=Computer-Aided Design|date=July 1981|volume=13|issue=4|pages=193–197|display-authors=0|doi=10.1016/0010-4485(81)90140-8}}</ref>
* 1982
** [[Gemstone (database)|Gemstone]] started (as Servio Logic) to build a set theoretic model data base machine.
* 1985 – Term Object Database first introduced
* 1986
** Servio Logic (Gemstone Systems) Ships Gemstone 1.0
* 1988
** [[Company:Object Design, Incorporated|Object Design, Incorporated]] founded, development of [[Software:ObjectStore|ObjectStore]] begun
** [[Company:Versant Corporation|Versant Corporation]] started (as Object Sciences Corp)
** Objectivity, Inc. founded
* Early 1990s
** Servio Logic changes name to Gemstone Systems
** [[Gemstone (database)|Gemstone]] ([[Smalltalk]])-([[C++]])-([[Java (programming language)|Java]])
** GBase (LISP)
** VBase (O2- ONTOS – INFORMIX)
** Objectivity/DB
* Mid 1990s
** [[Software:InterSystems Caché|InterSystems Caché]]
** [[Software:Versant Object Database|Versant Object Database]]
** ODABA
** [[Software:Zope Object Database|ZODB]]
** Poet
** [[JADE (programming language)|JADE]]
** Matisse
** Illustra [[Software:Informix|Informix]]
* 2000s
** [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242787423_l-DB_an_ODMG-based_object-oriented_DBMS lambda-DB:] An ODMG-Based Object-Oriented DBMS by Leonidas Fegaras, Chandrasekhar Srinivasan, Arvind Rajendran, David Maier
** [[Software:Db4o|db4o]] project started by Carl Rosenberger
** [[ObjectDB]]
* 2001 [[Company:IBM|IBM]] acquires Informix
* 2003 [[Software:ObjectDatabase++|odbpp]] public release
* 2004 db4o's commercial launch as db4objects, Inc.
* 2008 db4o acquired by [[Company:Versant Corporation|Versant Corporation]]
* 2010 [[Company:VMware|VMware]] acquires GemStone<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/spring-gemstone.html|title=SpringSource to Acquire Gemstone Systems Data Management Technology|date=May 6, 2010|access-date=August 5, 2014|publisher=WMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808042307/http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/spring-gemstone.html|archive-date=August 8, 2014}}</ref>
* 2011 db4o's development stopped.
* 2012 [[Software:Wakanda|Wakanda]] first production versions with open source and commercial licenses
* 2012 [[Company:Actian|Actian]] acquires Versant Corporation
* 2013 GemTalk Systems acquires [[Gemstone (database)|Gemstone]] products from VMware<ref name=gemtalk1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/gemtalksystems/acquires-gemstone-s/prweb10652596.htm|author=GemTalk Systems|publisher=PRWeb|date=May 2, 2013|title=GemTalk Systems Acquires GemStone/S Products from VMware|access-date=August 5, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810224807/http://www.prweb.com/releases/gemtalksystems/acquires-gemstone-s/prweb10652596.htm|archive-date=August 10, 2014}}</ref>
* 2014 db4o's commercial offering is officially discontinued by Actian (which had acquired Versant)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://supportservices-old.actian.com/versant/default.html|title=restructuring our Versant Community Website}}</ref>
* 2014 [[Software:Realm (database)|Realm]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/11/Realm-database-nodejs|title=Realm Releases Object Database for Node.js|website=InfoQ|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043544/https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/11/Realm-database-nodejs|archive-date=2017-02-02}}</ref>
*2017 ObjectBox<ref>{{Cite web|last=DB-Engines|title=Object Database Ranking on DB-Engines|url=https://db-engines.com/en/ranking/object+oriented+dbms|access-date=2021-05-21|website=DB-Engines}}</ref>

==Adoption of object databases==
Object databases based on persistent programming acquired a niche in application areas such as
engineering and [[Software:Object-based spatial database|spatial databases]], telecommunications, and scientific areas such as [[Physics:Particle physics|high energy physics]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.service-architecture.com/articles/object-oriented-databases/stanford-linear-accelerator.html|title = Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC)}}</ref> and [[Biology:Molecular biology|molecular biology]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/157709.157747|doi = 10.1145/157709.157747|chapter = Integration of molecular biology data collections using object oriented databases and programming|title = Addendum to the proceedings on Object-oriented programming systems, languages, and applications (Addendum) - OOPSLA '92|year = 1992|last1 = Herde|first1 = Patrick|last2 = Sibbald|first2 = Peter R.|pages = 177–178|isbn = 0897916107|s2cid = 45269462}}</ref>

Another group of object databases focuses on embedded use in devices, packaged software, and [[Real-time computing|real-time]] systems.

==Technical features==
Most object databases also offer some kind of [[Query language|query language]], allowing objects to be found using a [[Declarative programming|declarative programming]] approach. It is in the area of object query languages, and the integration of the query and navigational interfaces, that the biggest differences between products are found. An attempt at standardization was made by the [[Object Data Management Group|ODMG]] with the [[Object Query Language]], OQL.

Access to data can be faster because an object can be retrieved directly without a search, by following [[Pointer (computer programming)|pointers]].

Another area of variation between products is in the way that the schema of a database is defined. A general characteristic, however, is that the programming language and the database schema use the same type definitions.

Multimedia applications are facilitated because the class methods associated with the data are responsible for its correct interpretation.

Many object databases, for example Gemstone or VOSS, offer support for [[Version control|versioning]]. An object can be viewed as the set of all its versions. Also, object versions can be treated as objects in their own right. Some object databases also provide systematic support for [[Database trigger|trigger]]s and constraints which are the basis of [[Active database|active database]]s.

The efficiency of such a database is also greatly improved in areas which demand massive amounts of data about one item. For example, a banking institution could get the user's account information and provide them efficiently with extensive information such as transactions, account information entries etc.

==Standards==
The [[Object Data Management Group]]  was a consortium of object database and object–relational mapping vendors, members of the academic community, and interested parties. Its goal was to create a set of specifications that would allow for portable applications that store objects in database management systems. It published several versions of its specification. The last release was ODMG 3.0. By 2001, most of the major object database and object–relational mapping vendors claimed conformance to the ODMG Java Language Binding. Compliance to the other components of the specification was mixed. In 2001, the ODMG Java Language Binding was submitted to the [[Java Community Process]] as a basis for the [[Java Data Objects]] specification. The ODMG member companies then decided to concentrate their efforts on the Java Data Objects specification. As a result, the ODMG disbanded in 2001.

Many object database ideas were also absorbed into [[SQL:1999|1999]] and have been implemented in varying degrees in [[Object–relational database|object–relational database]] products.

In 2005 Cook, Rai, and Rosenberger proposed to drop all standardization efforts to introduce additional object-oriented query APIs but rather use the OO programming language itself, i.e., Java and .NET, to express queries.  As a result, Native Queries emerged. Similarly, Microsoft announced [[Language Integrated Query]] (LINQ) and DLINQ, an implementation of LINQ, in September 2005, to provide close, language-integrated database query capabilities with its programming languages C# and VB.NET 9.

In February 2006, the [[Organization:Object Management Group|Object Management Group]] (OMG) announced that they had been granted the right to develop new specifications based on the ODMG 3.0 specification and the formation of the Object Database Technology Working Group (ODBT WG). The ODBT WG planned to create a set of standards that would incorporate advances in object database technology (e.g., replication), data management (e.g., spatial indexing), and data formats (e.g., XML) and to include new features into these standards that support domains where object databases are being adopted (e.g., real-time systems).  The work of the ODBT WG was suspended in March 2009 when, subsequent to the economic turmoil in late 2008, the ODB vendors involved in this effort decided to focus their resources elsewhere.

In January 2007 the [[Organization:World Wide Web Consortium|World Wide Web Consortium]] gave final recommendation status to the [[XQuery]] language.  XQuery uses [[XML]] as its data model. Some of the ideas developed originally for object databases found their way into XQuery, but XQuery is not intrinsically object-oriented. Because of the popularity of XML, XQuery engines compete with object databases as a vehicle for storage of data that is too complex or variable to hold conveniently in a relational database. XQuery also allows modules to be written to provide encapsulation features that have been provided by Object-Oriented systems.

[[XQuery|XQuery v1]] and [[XPath 2.0|XPath v2]] are extremely complex (no [[Free and open-source software|FOSS software]] is implementing these standards more than 10 years after their publication) when compared to  [[XPath#Syntax and semantics (XPath 1.0)|XPath v1]] and [[XSLT|XSLT v1]], and [[XML]] did not fit all community demands as an [[Engineering:Open standard|open format]]. Since the early 2000s [[JSON]] has gained community adoption and popularity in applications, surpassing XML in the 2010s. [[JSONiq]], a query-analog of XQuery for JSON (sharing XQuery's core expressions and operations), demonstrated the functional equivalence of the JSON and XML formats. In this context, the main strategy of OODBMS maintainers was to retrofit JSON to their databases (by using it as the internal data type).

In January 2016, with the [[Software:PostgreSQL|PostgreSQL 9.5 release]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/functions-json.html|title=PostgreSQL: Documentation: 10: 9.15. JSON Functions and Operators|website=www.postgresql.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518071030/http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/functions-json.html|archive-date=2016-05-18}}</ref> was the first FOSS OODBMS  to offer an efficient JSON internal datatype (JSONB) with a complete set of functions and  operations,  for all basic relational and non-relational manipulations.

==Comparison with RDBMSs==
An object database stores complex data and relationships between data directly, without mapping to relational [[Software:Row (database)|rows]] and [[Software:Column (database)|columns]], and this makes them suitable for applications dealing with very complex data.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Radding | first=Alan | year=1995 | title=So what the Hell is ODBMS? | journal=Computerworld | volume=29 | issue=45 | pages=121–122, 129}}</ref> Objects have a many-to-many relationship and are accessed by the use of pointers. Pointers are linked to objects to establish relationships. Another benefit of an OODBMS is that it can be programmed with small procedural differences without affecting the entire system.<ref>Burleson, Donald. (1994). OODBMSs gaining MIS ground but RDBMSs still own the road.  Software Magazine, 14(11), 63</ref>

==See also==
* [[Software:Comparison of object database management systems|Comparison of object database management systems]]
* [[Component-oriented database]]
* [[Engineering:EDA database|EDA database]]
* [[Enterprise Objects Framework]]
* [[NoSQL]]
* [[Object Data Management Group]]
* [[Object–relational database]]
* [[Persistence (computer science)]]
* [[Relational model]]
* [[Software:Relational database management system|Relational database management system]] (RDbMS)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.odbms.org/ Object DBMS resource portal]
* [http://db-engines.com/en/ranking/object+oriented+dbms Ranking of Object Oriented DBMS] - by popularity, updated monthly from [[Software:DB-Engines ranking|DB-Engines]]

{{Database models}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Object Database}}
[[Category:Database management systems]]
[[Category:Object-oriented programming]]
[[Category:Database models]]
[[Category:Object-oriented database management systems| ]]
[[Category:Types of databases]]

{{Sourceattribution|Object database}}