Back to the Future – Should SQL Surrender to SPARQL?

In this paper, we will take a closer look at the essential differences between two of the most prominent database query languages today, SPARQL and SQL, and at their underlying data models, RDF resp. the relational model (RM). There is an enormous “hype” around SPARQL/RDF at the moment claiming all kinds of advantages of these “newcomers” over the long-established SQL/RM setting. We discover that many of these claims are not justified, at least not as far as data representation and querying is concerned. Our conclusion will be that SQL/RM are well able to serve the same purpose as SPARQL/RDF if treated fairly, and if presenting itself properly. We omit all aspects of navigation over distributed or federated data resources, though, as SQL isn’t (yet) made for this task.