JSON Relational Duality

Combine the simplicity of the JSON document model with the power of the relational model using JSON Relational Duality. This transformative data modeling capability in Oracle Database 23ai solves the age-old problem of object-relational mismatch, letting applications simultaneously treat the same underlying data as JSON documents or relational tables, as needed by the use case.

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Oracle JSON Relational Duality overview (2:13)

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Why JSON Relational Duality?

Get the ease of JSON and the power of relational

Unify the simplicity benefits of JSON with the efficiency and sophistication of relational, without any trade-offs.

Ultraflexible data access

Freely combine JSON APIs, REST, and standard SQL, depending on your use case.

Simple application evolution

JSON Relational Duality Views make it easy to evolve applications as they add new use cases, without requiring new copies of data.

Makes object-relational mapping (ORM) obsolete

Duality Views is database native and language independent, eliminating the limitations and inefficiencies of bolted-on ORMs.

Easily build RESTful and mobile applications

Lock-free concurrency control lets developers easily build massively concurrent applications.

Leave document databases far behind

Combine JSON access with all the converged Oracle Database 23ai features, such as AI Vector Search, Graph, and Spatial.

What is JSON Relational Duality

JSON Relational Duality is a new data modeling capability that features updatable and consistent JSON document views over relational data. This allows data that is stored efficiently in relational tables to be accessed as simple JSON documents. JSON Relational Duality Views can be accessed with document APIs, such as MongoDB-compatible APIs, REST, and SQL.

JSON Relational Duality Views is a transformative capability that decouples the access format from the storage format for database-resident data. This capability enables applications to treat data interchangeably as JSON documents or as relational tables depending on the use case.

Unlike document databases, JSON Relational Duality Views allow the same underlying data to be consistently shared and updated from different document collections.

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Key features of JSON Relational Duality

JSON and relational unification

Data can be read and written either as JSON documents or relational tables, providing full flexibility for developers.
Lock-free concurrency control

Duality Views utilize a lock-free or optimistic concurrency control mechanism that allows fully consistent database reads and writes without the need to hold locks across accesses.
Fine-grained access rules

Duality Views allow simple and fine-grained customization of data access and updatable rules for different application modules that share the same data.
Simple, GraphQL-based declarations

In addition to SQL, Duality Views can be defined using a simple and intuitive GraphQL-based syntax.
Automatic code generation

Duality Views can be described using standard JSON schema that enables automatic generation of REST endpoints, access templates, and application blueprints.
JSON to Duality Migrator

JSON to Duality Migrator analyzes collections of JSON documents and recommends the optimal set of normalized tables and Duality Views into which the documents from the collections can be imported.

See what top industry analysts are saying about JSON Relational Duality

“Oracle Database 23ai definitely ends the long-running ‘relational vs. document’ debate with JSON Relational Duality delivering the best of both worlds.”
– Marc Staimer
Senior Analyst, Wikibon
“Oracle’s JSON Relational Duality is perhaps one of the most important innovations in information science in 20 years.”
– Carl Olofson
Research Vice President, Data Management Software, IDC
“The ability to selectively treat data as JSON or relational while maintaining the power of SQL is fantastic.”
– Graeme Rocher
Co-founder and Director, Micronaut Foundation
“Oracle Database 23ai simplifies the development process with the ability to unify relational data and JSON documents.”
– Ron Westfall
Senior Analyst and Research Director, Futurum Group

May 2024

JSON Relational Duality in Database 23ai Is Now Available

Ranjan Priyadarshi, Senior Director, Product Management, Oracle

Oracle Database 23ai JSON Relational Duality revolutionizes AppDev by unifying the benefits of relational and document data models within a single database.

Read the complete post