Re: Can we go beyond the standard to make Postgres radically better?

On Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 3:16 AM Ron <ronljohnsonjr(at)gmail(dot)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