[comp.ai] Need help in differences between RDBMS and Expert Systems

skumar@cbnewsh.att.com (swaminathan.ravikumar) (07/18/90)

Could someone explain the differences between Relational
DBMS and Expert Systems. I would like to know the kinds of
things that cannot be done with RDBMS for which you need Expert
Systems Technology. 

When I look at most of the Expert System Shells they provide a
syntax for representing the domain specific data (or knowledge)
and a way to use the data (conditional knowledge or inference 
mechanism). Can't the same thing be achieved with tables and
queries in a RDBMS. Is the chaining through conditional knowledge
possible in ES is missing in RDBMS?

I always have trouble in explaining the differences between the
two when someone asks. I have heard people saying relational
algebra cannot do recursion (I don't know what this means). 
I would appreciate any clarification on this from the netters.

Thanks.

-- ravi
skumar@hocus.att.com