What Is Object-Oriented Database (OODB)?

Object-oriented databases are a niche relational database management system (RDBMS) offering, and they are less successful or well-known than mainstream database engines. RDBMSs, which came about in the early 1970s, allow users to store and organize data in tables of rows and columns. Object-oriented databases differ from this model by containing data in objects that can be manipulated using object-oriented programming languages. Object-oriented databases comprise three core components: object storage, query processing, and transaction management. Object storage stores objects as files on disk or other media; query processing allows users to retrieve information from this storage; transaction management tracks changes made during transactions so that only one version of an object is stored permanently. An Object-Oriented Database (OODB) provides a more natural way of describing data by supporting the definition of objects different from the standard database objects. In object-oriented databases, objects refer to the ability to create a product, describe and name it, and then refer to it later as a whole without examining its details. Object-oriented programming employs the same concept. In other words, if you had a game about birds building nests, you would have an object for each bird and nest. You could call those individual objects when needed instead of going into every detail of their construction or location on the screen. A car engine is an excellent parallel to object-oriented programming. It's made of several parts that can be machined and bolted together to form one object: the main cylinder block, exhaust system, intake manifold and so on. When you look at each component individually, it needs to make more sense. But when you put them all together, it's a fully functional engine that runs your car! That's why in object-oriented programming, it's essential to define your objects first and then connect them later. You don't have to create the graph before you can plot points on it—you call the instance of that created graph whenever you need it!