Chris J. Date is one of the most
famous people in the study of
relational databases. His book, "
An Introduction to Database Systems," now on it's seventh edition, is one of the most popular in the industry. Date is a prolific
writer, with more than 20 books and 200 papers under his belt.
Date is a proponent of the removal of null values (directly against what E.F. Codd himself believes), and the use of object relational databases, as explained in the book co-authored with Hugh Darwen, "Foundation for Future Database Systems: The Third Manifesto".
C.J. Date works as an independent author, lecturer, and consultant.