Re: Can we go beyond the standard to make Postgres radically better? - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Raymond Brinzer
Subject Re: Can we go beyond the standard to make Postgres radically better?
Date
Msg-id CANasJHkir47oV0WcHOfe-S9qijE48mCxT5TV9k-KWcCVWOWkyg@mail.gmail.com
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In response to Re: Can we go beyond the standard to make Postgres radically better?  (Ron <ronljohnsonjr@gmail.com>)
List pgsql-general
On Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 3:16 AM Ron <ronljohnsonjr@gmail.com> wrote:
On 2/10/22 10:33 PM, Raymond Brinzer wrote:
 
The answer is obvious to every grey beard: SQL was developed from SEQUEL, Structured ENGLISH Query Language at a company that loved English-style programming languages.

"SELECT column FROM mytable WHERE condition" is a perfect declarative English sentence that any middle school grammar teacher would be proud of.

"FROM mytable SELECT column"... not so much.

They're both perfectly good English; the order just changes the emphasis.  That's the particularly annoying bit:  we get all the bad things about English grammar, and none of the flexibility or beauty.

First thing that came to mind was the beginning of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations:  "From my grandfather Verus I learned to relish the beauty of manners, and to restrain all anger."  That's a translation of course, but into solid English.  Putting what he learned first would not only be dull, it would obscure the fact that he's giving credit.

--
Ray Brinzer

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