ABSTRACT
Database technologies have evolved from the hierarchical databases in the 1970s to relational database management systems in the 1980s and object databases and client/server systems in the 1990s. Although the shift from central processing to client/server did not fully leverage object technology, Internet-based technologies promise to provide the infrastructure for objects. Web-based browsers are poised to become the universal clients for all types of applications. These applications increasingly depend on components, automation, and object layers linking systems.
