If using the -> notation, you would only need to manually
inspect the tables involved in the remaining JOINs;
since you could be confident all uses of -> cannot affect cardinality.
I think this would be a win also for an expert SQL consultant working
with a new complex data model never seen before.
I did not feel comfortable when I read about this proprietary extension of SQL. I can accept and it can be nice to support ANSI/SQL object's referentions, but implementing own syntax for JOIN looks too strange. I don't see too strong benefit in inventing new syntax and increasing the complexity and possible disorientation of users about correct syntax. Some users didn't adopt a difference between old joins and modern joins, and you are inventing a third syntax.
