Explore SQL as a declarative language. This article breaks down SQL operations into programming primitives and discusses syntax challenges and execution order.

Quesma

SQL is examined through the lens of programming language theory, with Go code examples demonstrating how SQL primitives (FROM, WHERE, SELECT) map to functional operations like filtering and projection. The post covers SQL's declarative nature, builds a LINQ-like DSL in Go using generics, and discusses SQL syntax challenges including the mismatch between write order and execution order, duplicated clauses (WHERE vs HAVING), and readability issues with nested subqueries. It also briefly introduces Quesma as a proxy layer that can transform between SQL dialects and alternative query languages like PRQL or Google's Pipe SQL syntax.

SQL from a Programming Language Perspective — Part II