Charles Bachman (1924–2017) was an American computer scientist who created the first database management system. His work established foundational concepts in data management that influence all modern databases.
Creating IDS
At General Electric in 1964, Bachman developed IDS (Integrated Data Store). This was the first true DBMS—a separate software layer managing data storage and retrieval, rather than applications handling files directly.
Data Independence
Bachman’s key insight was data independence—separating how programs access data from how data is physically stored. This principle remains fundamental: applications shouldn’t need to know about disk layout or file organization.
Network Data Model
IDS used a network data model where records were linked by pointers. This model, standardized by CODASYL, dominated enterprise computing before relational databases emerged.
Bachman Diagrams
Bachman created a notation for representing database schemas visually. These “Bachman diagrams” influenced entity-relationship diagrams and database design notation generally.
Turing Award
Bachman received the 1973 Turing Award for his contributions to database technology. His acceptance speech, “The Programmer as Navigator,” described how programmers navigated through data structures—a metaphor that captured the network database paradigm.