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How Would You Improve SQL?

Posted by Cliff on from the select-*-except-column99-from-table dept.

theodp asks: "It was the best of languages, it was the worst of languages. SQL's handy, but it can also drive you nuts. For example, if you want all 100 columns from a table, 'SELECT *' works quite nicely. However, if you want all but 1 of the 100 columns, be prepared to spell out 99 column names. Wouldn't it not make sense to provide a Google-like shorthand notation like 'SELECT * -ColumnName' (or DROP=syntax like SAS)? So how would you improve SQL?"

1 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Problem Not SQL, It's DB Implementations by davemabe · · Score: 0, Redundant

    SQL is great - it's trying to get all the database vendors to support it consistently. Ever tried doing in Oracle what is a piece of cake in MySQL:

    SELECT * FROM table LIMIT x,y

    You can easily page through results using that LIMIT function. Try doing the same in Oracle. I'm told it can be done, but it ain't pretty.