Editing Pick operating system (section)

==Overview==
The Pick Operating System is an integrated computing platform with a database, query and procedural operation languages, peripheral and multi-user management, and [[BASIC]] programming capabilities. Its database utilizes a hash-file system, enabling efficient data storage and retrieval by organizing data into dynamic associative arrays managed by associative files.

Data within the Pick system is organized into a hierarchical structure of accounts, dictionaries, files, and sub-files based on a [[Hash table|hash-table]] model with linear probing. This structure comprises variable-length records, fields, and sub-fields, with unique naming conventions that reflect its multivalued database characteristics. Records are identified by unique keys that facilitate direct access to their storage locations.<ref name="SiskProGuide"/>

Initially constrained by the era's technological limitations, the Pick system's capacity has expanded over time, removing earlier record-size limits and introducing dynamic file allocation and [[B-tree]] indexing to enhance data management capabilities.

The Pick database operates without explicit [[data type]]s,<ref name="SiskProGuide"/> treating all data as character strings, which places the onus of data integrity on the applications developed for the system. This flexibility allows Pick to store data in [[Unnormalized form|non-first-normal-form]], avoiding the need for [[Join (SQL)|join]] operations by containing all related data within single records. This approach can optimize storage and retrieval efficiency for specific kinds of datasets.