Chaiyunpeng: Cultivation of innovation ability is crucial ｜ interview with oceanbase database competition

“ from  0  To  1, Build your database ”,  As the first distributed database kernel development competition in China ,OceanBase  The database competition is in  5  month  10  Daily announcement  10  Strong list ,2021  The annual competition officially came to an end .

The end of the final , It is also the beginning of competition sharing . We conducted a series of interviews with invited judges and participating teams , Invite them to share their views on the future trend of the database 、 The psychological course of database research and suggestions on talent training . This time we have invited special guests of this year  ——  Professor chaiyunpeng, Dean of the Department of computer science and technology, School of information, Renmin University of China , Let's take a look at his views on the database competition .

Introduction to special guests ： Professor chaiyunpeng ,

Dean of Department of computer science and technology, School of information, Renmin University of China 、 Doctoral supervisor 、CCF  Member of Database Committee . The main research direction is cloud computing resource management 、 Distributed big data system 、 New hardware system optimization, etc .

The following is an interview with Professor chaiyunpeng ：

Q:

As the instructor of the team , You are right.  OceanBase  What is the deepest feeling of the database contest ？

A:

This competition is quite different from the previous one , It should be an influential competition . In the first competition, the computer system is more complex , In particular, the database system is put into the competition , Including the feelings of communicating with students , Also feel very special . With all kinds of computer competitions before , Emphasis on programming 、 The game of algorithms is totally different .

At the same time, it can improve and exercise students' actual combat ability , All very helpful . I feel very interesting myself , I also hope that the students behind me can take part in more such competitions . In particular, we do systematic research , This kind of competition encourages students 、 The promotion will be very big .

Q:

What do you think is the significance of students participating in the database contest ？

A:

Most of the students participating in this competition are graduate students or are about to become graduate students , Many students of NPC may be engaged in computer systems in the future 、 Database system development , I think their participation is of great significance . Because in school , They are in graduate school , I just want to improve my ability , So as to adapt to the working environment of the enterprise in the future . under these circumstances , On the one hand, it is to participate in scientific research projects in schools for exercise , On the other hand, it is to participate in enterprise projects , This is indispensable . Including the cultivation of some innovative ability .

meanwhile , The competition may be different from the scientific research project , It has a greater stimulating effect on the students . In a very short time and in a fairly fair environment , Compete directly with students from colleges and universities across the country on the same platform , These topics are challenging in themselves , For the students, they are also competing with themselves . What is needed for core training is also the research of computer system 、 R & D needs , So taking part in the database competition is very important for their personal growth , I think it's very helpful .

Q:

The NPC team won the first championship , What do you think  NoPassCET4  What are the team's advantages in winning awards ？

A:

At first, I didn't hope so much , For the first time  OceanBase  This game , I really didn't expect to win the championship , Because the database contest is relatively new , We don't know much about . But looking back, there is a certain possibility .

The general environment of the NPC attaches great importance to the database , Students also have a lot of accumulation at ordinary times , Whether it's the cutting-edge technology of databases 、 Or database engineering or open source code , What they touch everyday is helpful for the competition . Several students in our team have some experience in actual database research and development in previous database research , This also laid the foundation for them to get a better result .

Q:

When did you first contact the database ？ In the process of doing database research for so many years , What is your biggest difficulty ？

A:

I didn't touch the database very early , The research done during the Ph.D. is more related to the storage system at the lower layer of the database . Then came the people's Congress , The atmosphere of the NPC is better at doing research on traditional databases . Therefore, storage and database are closely combined . A dozen years ago , It is an area where storage is active . For example, some new hardware , Like flash memory , To the back of the watt recording disk 、 Partitioned memory , It is this type of storage that new hardware continues to emerge . Personally, I actually do a lot on new hardware storage , Database makers are also very concerned about how to use these new hardware . In this case , Starting with new hardware storage , Gradually do more and more research on database system .

Later, it gradually expanded , In addition to the new hardware database , We also do some distributed databases , Especially the research and development of some popular distributed systems with separate architectures . In addition, we have been working on this cloud native database in the past oneortwo years , It is to do distributed databases in an elastic and scalable cloud environment , Plus elastic expansion 、 Some functions such as allocating resources on demand to improve efficiency , And some updated topics are also being done later , The research on database is getting deeper and deeper . I feel very interesting 、 Very challenging , Database is also a very important area . In particular, new technologies have been added in recent decades , In addition, the state attaches great importance to , The demand of enterprises is also great , It is very worthwhile to invest in this field .

The main difficulty we face in the research process is actually the relationship and balance between engineering and innovation . For example, many innovative jobs , It may be difficult to put it into a real enterprise database . Because of the workload , The requirements for students are too high . So most of the time, it can only be done on some very small systems . But on small systems , Maybe no matter you are friends in the industry , Or developers , In fact, they are not fully recognized . So relatively speaking , How to balance well is a difficult point . You want students to do innovative work , But beginners can just get started , They are also required to land in a database that is closer to the real database , At the same time, it can be verified . This is relatively difficult .

Q:

Database is a very complex large-scale system , In your opinion , What are the opportunities and trends of domestic databases ？

A:

My own judgment is this , Databases can be divided into three eras ： The first stage is the era of stand-alone database , We are undoubtedly backward . We are still using  PG、MySQL  Such a kernel or buy it directly  Oracle DB2  Such products . Then came the age of distribution , Driven by the mobile Internet , Like Ali 、 Huawei , tencent , Include  OceanBase  Such enterprises have started to build databases . I think in the distributed age , The gap with foreign countries is very small , Design in many fields even goes beyond . This is a great progress in the research and development of domestic databases .

Now we are entering a new era , The shape of the database will change even more . For example, cloud primordial , It may solve the problem of resource utilization and cost , It can meet the needs of different users in each enterprise . Then technology like new hardware , We can solve the problems caused by Moore's law and its coming to an end .AI  Blessing of technology , It also makes the system more adaptive 、 More energy saving , Improve the efficiency of software and hardware . These aspects make the whole database possible to have a great technological breakthrough . For example, it will be more flexible 、 More loose coupling 、 More adaptive de combination . Now it's called  self driving 、self design  Good , There are many new concepts that may be added to the database , And gradually become products .

In this new era , Our domestic enterprises and talents have actually accumulated well . So I believe that some truly international leading products and enterprises may emerge in this era . In the realm of databases , We're not just running after others , But should have the opportunity to lead in this era . I think we may soon see this coming .

Q:

What do you think as a student , In the future, I want to engage in database work and become a database developer , What are the core qualities that should be possessed now ？ What changes have taken place compared with the past ？

A:

This is a very good question , As a teacher of NPC , We very much hope to cultivate more and more high-end database talents for the country . In fact, it seems to be very difficult now , The demand is much higher than the high-level database graduates that the school can push out . The core quality or the point that is difficult to cultivate , The first is the cultivation of engineering ability , He wants to really touch a large-scale enterprise database , Raise the engineering capability , In addition, it is necessary to accumulate basic knowledge of various databases . Not just a course , It is more important to know the principle of the database when analyzing the code . This combination of reality and theory , It is already a high requirement for students . And the database technology is relatively deep , There are many things to learn in each module , This is actually a difficult point in training students . Of course the other way around , If the student is in the senior undergraduate or graduate stage , After years of training on the right path , In fact, it also cultivates core database R & D personnel that are valued by enterprises .

Compared with the past, the biggest feeling is that the level of products and open source projects of the enterprise is improving ,OceanBase  And the level of excellent enterprises in the industry is improving , The level of students is also improving , More recognition of databases than previous students , More active to learn foreign online courses , Participate in enterprise level practical training , Including looking at some open source projects . So their growth will be faster .

Another point is that no matter schools or enterprises  , I think a big change is that everyone attaches great importance to the thesis , Attach importance to academic research . Especially some good papers at the summit , People in enterprises are also going to see . Teachers and students in our school will also go to see the papers issued by the enterprise , There will be more academic exchanges , And will be very practical . I think this technology is really useful , People in enterprises will also take this paper to the ground . Now enterprises also need to have the habit and ability to read papers , At the same time, students also need to do this kind of training . So I feel that the biggest change on the whole is that the overall level of our country has improved very fast . The scale may be very large , Especially the demand for talents .

Q:

In fact, there has been a lack of database talents in the underlying technology system in China , In your opinion , How should we speed up the process of talent training ？

A:

Yes , This is an issue of great concern to us . I personally feel that there are actually several levels , The first is at the undergraduate level , The level of database course must be improved . To go abroad CMU  These top universities study , In the undergraduate course, it is necessary to add the course exercise of such a complex system as the design and development of database system . Then to the senior grade , There may also be a variety of ways for students to participate in the development of open source database projects , There is also some research work .

Including images  OceanBase  Database contest , It is also a good form , So that students' abilities at the undergraduate and graduate levels can be further strengthened . Then at the doctoral level , In fact, it is necessary to put forward new methods of database creatively . But it should also be done based on the real system , Cultivate real high-end talents . So there are at least three stages , We should train our students according to the standards and requirements of the top schools in the United States . In this case , In the future, there may be a large number of very high-level database talents to deliver fresh blood to this industry in our country .

Q:

For the next database competition , What are your suggestions and expectations ？ And what suggestions or encouragement do you have for the next contestant ？

A:

First of all, we encourage students to enter for the competition , Also hope that  OceanBase  More publicity can be strengthened , Let more schools 、 More teachers and students know and attach importance to , Understand the characteristics and charm of this competition . Then join in and get some exercise . So on the whole, I am very supportive , I also hope it can be better and better .

Different from standard competitions such as algorithms , The competition of database system is quite complicated , It is possible to put forward an optimization objective for the system , There may be many optimization paths in it . Some are what our designers thought at the beginning , Some may not be particularly thought of . But there may be something tricky , Affect the judgment of the game . Therefore, I hope the organizing committee will strengthen in this respect in the future . At the same time, the topic is more comprehensive from the perspective of standardization , Avoid small problems for competitors , In the process of answering questions, we should consult . We also have some communication with the competition staff , I believe it will get better and better .

The epidemic really disrupted the rhythm of the game , It leads to a long race time . It is hoped that the competition will be held again this year with full consideration given to the long-term persistence of the epidemic , There are plans to make the competition more interactive , This can be a problem , It is also a practical problem . Taking part in the competition is very training for students , We will also encourage more senior undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the competition . Because many of them have also done database research and development in the undergraduate stage , There are some experiences that I should be interested in .

About  OceanBase  Database contest

「2021 OceanBase  Database contest 」 For young talents in Colleges and universities , since 2021 year 8 Registration starts in January , From the preliminaries 、 It takes... From the semi-finals to the final finals  9  Months , It has attracted both at home and abroad, including Tsinghua University 、 Peking University, 、 Renmin University of China 、 Nanyang University of technology 、 Columbia University, etc  246  A total of... Including well-known universities  1179  Team , near  2000  Database enthusiasts compete , It has created a new talent training mode of industry education integration in the field of domestic distributed database .

After fierce competition in the finals and on-site defense , From Renmin University of China  NoPassCET4  The team won the championship , East Asian man from East China Normal University 、 University of Electronic Science and Technology  push_d_  The team won the second place , East China Normal University  lying_flat、 East China Normal University and Qingdao University of science and technology  Honiitro19  The team 、 And two tigers from Huazhong University of science and technology won the third place after eating radishes .