In the 1970s, IBM developed a product called SEQUEL, or Structured English Query Language, which ultimately became SQL, the Structured Query Language. IBM, along with other relational database vendors, wanted a standardized method for accessing and manipulating data in a relational database. Over the decades, many competing languages have allowed programmers and developers to access and manipulate data. However, few have been as easy to learn and as universally accepted as SQL. Programmers and developers now have the benefit of learning a language that, with minor adjustments, is applicable to a wide variety of database applications and products
