Databases have come a long since they were first implemented. There are now wizards that can help the creator to build a database. These wizards can do nearly all of the work and all that is left is for the creator is to input the headings for certain fields and the job is already halfway done. There is also the use of screen designers which is like a graphical interface which shows the creator what he/she is doing. The code within all databases is called Structured Query Language (SQL). All databases talk in this language and that is how databases can be linked together.

A database application like Microsoft Access has a interface where you can input the data into a table format or design your own type of visual interface (form) which can input the data. This is a more user-friendly way of using a database. This is also linked to another language called Visual Basic which is a graphical way of creating a database in that you control the data flows and can place the text boxes and titles and calculations where you want. The Visual Basic code is what is behind the graphical format of a table (form) in Microsoft Access. This makes it much easier to design databases if you have knowledge in Visual Basic. Access also contains various wizards which can design the database to a specific way. To find out more about Microsoft Access go to cnet.com and look at some of the other features a program like Access has to offer.

It is common for interactive exchanges to occur which interrogate databases and update them when appropriate. For example, when you book a holiday at the travel agent, the normal activity is to query the travel company's database to check availability and costs. The database responds to the query with the situation. A selection can be made and the database updated if a booking is confirmed. This is a typical example of an interactive session.

A example of databases being linked together is the SABRE system. This is an example of a distributed database system. Through the SABRE group's global distributed system more than thirty thousand travel agencies, three million registered individual consumers and numerous corporations access information on and book reservations with more than four hundred airlines, more than fifty car rental companies, thirty-five thousand hotel properties, and dozens of railways, tour companies, passenger ferries and cruise lines throughout the world. The SABRE group's system is one of the world's largest privately owned, real-time computer systems. This is a main example of a distributed database.

Client servers use the method of smaller terminals which are linked to a larger server computer. This is the case when talking about most Local Area Networks (LANs). When using a network this allows access to shared databases permitting you have the authorisation to view or edit the database. Huge databases can be stored on the main computer and be accessed by the smaller terminals. This improves the efficiency of a system in meaning that the same database does not have to be copied into every workstation. The database can be accessed from the server file. The SABRE system is similar in that it has the smaller terminals in the travel agencies and other locations linked to its central file server which is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma USA. Information on SABRE's System can gathered from SABRE