Some Fundamentals of Dependency Theory

Abstract

This chapter deals with the relationship between logic and relational database theory. The aim of the chapter is to show, by many results published in the literature, how logic can provide a formal support to study classic database problems, and in some cases, how logic can go further, helping first in their comprehension, and then their solution. Logic is just a formal system; many other formal systems have been proposed and applied to databases. In the axiomatic approach, a formal system relies upon an object language, semantics or interpretation of formulas in that language and a proof theory.