FROM r JOIN s USING (id)
|> WHERE r.c < 15
|> AGGREGATE sum(r.e) AS s GROUP BY r.d
|> WHERE s > 3
|> ORDER BY d
|> SELECT d, s, rank() OVER (order by d)
I really like this idea of piping SQL queries rather than trying to create the perfect syntax from the get go.
+1 for readability too.
In order for a thing to be considered legacy, there needs to be a widespread successor available.
SQL might have been invented in the 70s but it's still going strong as no real alternative has been widely adopted so far - I'd wager that you will find SQL at most software companies today.
Calling it legacy is not realistic IMO.
We would invent the underlying engines for sure but not the language on top of it. It doesn't map at all to how it's actually used by programmers. SQL is the JS to WebAssembly, being able to write the query plan directly via whatever language or mechanism you prefer would be goated.
It has to be my biggest pain point dealing with SQL, having to hint to the optimizer or write meta-SQL to get it to generate the query plan I already know I want dammit! is unbelievably frustrating.
> having to hint to the optimizer or write meta-SQL to get it to generate the query plan I already know I want dammit'
That's not in the domain of SQL. If you're not getting the most optimized query plan, there is something wrong with the DBMS engine or statistics -- SQL, the language, isn't supposed to care about those details.
That's my point, I think we've reached the point where SQL the langage can be more of a hindrance than help because in a lot of cases we're writing directly to the engine but with oven mitts on. If I could build the query from the tree with scan, filter, index scan, cond, merge join as my primitives it would be so nice.