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Comment on Why SQL syntax sucks, and why it mattersparent

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The post itself provides a very real example of a flaw with the SQL language beyond simple aesthetics. Namely, that typical SQL queries only represent data in rows and columns, yet data and queries are often multidimensional. Any query that must represent data aggregated at different granularities produces output that is difficult and dangerous to use.

I think an analogous technology to Malloy is Typescript. It provides very real benefits over Javascript, but I don't think anyone would argue that it's 10x better. There will always be a lot of Javascript (and SQL) in the world.

I don't argue that SQL doesn't have flaws. Nor do I argue that some query results prove hard to present and interpret. Nothing about the relational model limits relations to rows/columns, but by default SQL presents results in that format. A large number of database queries do follow the useful rows/columns or records/attributes pattern. Some don't and for those numerous data analysis and visualization tools that sit on top of SQL exist and have for a long time.

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