DIKU Talk: An abridged history of DuckDB: database tech from Amsterdam

Click here to join the talk on Zoom.

Abstract

This talk will explain to the evolution of analytical database systems, starting from the classical relational database systems, all the way to DuckDB - the fastest growing data system today. My home institution CWI (birthplace of python!) located in Amsterdam, was party to multiple relevant events in this evolution, which includes the introduction of: column stores (MonetDB), vectorized query execution and lightweight compression (VectorWise), cloud-optimized database architectures (Databricks and Snowflake) and finally, embedded analytics (DuckDB). My talk will combine technical info with personal anecdotes along this 30-year tale, which finishes with the launch of MotherDuck, a new startup that aims to put DuckDB in the cloud.

Bio

Peter Boncz has been active in the database community during the past four decades, making him a veteran. He leads the Database Architectures research group of research institute CWI in Amsterdam and has been involved in six startup companies so far. He was recently appointed ACM Fellow for his contributions to modern database architectures, and is also professor at VU University in Amsterdam, specializing in analytical databases. He is also the founder and chairman of the graph database organization Linked Data Benchmark Council (LDBC), though this year he is on leave from the latter function, during his sabbatical stay at MotherDuck.