> I use Postgres […] SQL is pretty darn effective.
FWIW postgres used to have its own query language derived from QUEL[0] rather than SQL.
And findings that SQL is kinda shit are not exactly recent, e.g. C.J. Date's "A Critique of the SQL Language" (1983) lists the following sections
* lack of orthogonality: expressions
* lack of orthogonality: builtin functions
* lack of orthogonality: miscellaneous items formal definition
* mismatch with host languages
* missing function
* mistakes
* aspects of the relational model not supported
The conclusion was, obviously, prescient:
> if SQL is adopted on a wide scale in its present fortm~ then we will to some degree have missed the relational boat~ or at least failed to capitalize to the fullest possible extent on the potential of the relational model. That would be a pity, because we had an opportunity to do it right, and with a little effort we could have done so. The question is whether it is now too late. I sincerely hope not.
SQL succeeded not because it's "pretty darn effective" but because IBM decided on it (at a time where it drove technology) and Oracle are great at sales and marketing (whereas Ingres definitely wasn't).
FWIW postgres used to have its own query language derived from QUEL[0] rather than SQL.
And findings that SQL is kinda shit are not exactly recent, e.g. C.J. Date's "A Critique of the SQL Language" (1983) lists the following sections
* lack of orthogonality: expressions
* lack of orthogonality: builtin functions
* lack of orthogonality: miscellaneous items formal definition
* mismatch with host languages
* missing function
* mistakes
* aspects of the relational model not supported
The conclusion was, obviously, prescient:
> if SQL is adopted on a wide scale in its present fortm~ then we will to some degree have missed the relational boat~ or at least failed to capitalize to the fullest possible extent on the potential of the relational model. That would be a pity, because we had an opportunity to do it right, and with a little effort we could have done so. The question is whether it is now too late. I sincerely hope not.
SQL succeeded not because it's "pretty darn effective" but because IBM decided on it (at a time where it drove technology) and Oracle are great at sales and marketing (whereas Ingres definitely wasn't).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QUEL_query_languages