There's a difference between "clever" and "smart". Clever is rarely a good thing in programming. Code should be comprehensible, and clever code rarely is. The more proud you feel after writing a line of code, the more likely it is that you should rewrite it. The problem isn't that programmers aren't clever enough to write SQL queries. The problem is that programmers aren't smart enough to later read those SQL queries.
>I mean, they need to be able to deal with database logic just to graduate from a good CS bachelor's program, so that's a pretty low bar.
People manage to get through college without absorbing the basic requirements all the time, and being "able to deal" with database logic is not the same as being proficient with it. The problem with a system that demands cleverness is that maintaining clever code requires a high level of proficiency.
>I mean, they need to be able to deal with database logic just to graduate from a good CS bachelor's program, so that's a pretty low bar.
People manage to get through college without absorbing the basic requirements all the time, and being "able to deal" with database logic is not the same as being proficient with it. The problem with a system that demands cleverness is that maintaining clever code requires a high level of proficiency.