Query languages for the casual user
William C. Ogden, Susan R. Brooks · 1983
In the past the non-programmer who wanted the information contained in a computer database had to employ an expert programmer knowledgeable in the language and structure of the database. Now languages are being developed that are designed to be used by an infrequent or “casual” user who has limited knowledge of how the data is stored or retrieved by the computer. These special purpose query languages which allow these casual users to retrieve information from computer databases are commonly referred to as “nonprocedural” (Leavenworth and Sammet, 1974) because users need only describe the data to be retrieved, not how it is to be retrieved. These languages can be classified into two basic types which are characterized by the level of constraint imposed on the syntax and vocabulary of the language (Ehrenreich, 1981). Formal query languages have a very constrained syntax and vocabulary, while natural query languages have a relatively unconstrained syntax and vocabulary.