Re: should one use ANSI join syntax when writing an Oracle application?

  • From: Mladen Gogala <mgogala@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: niall.litchfield@xxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:36:28 -0400

On 10/17/2006 01:43:14 AM, Niall Litchfield wrote:
> My personal preference is for the ANSI standard syntax, I really find that
> seperating out the joins from the other conditions helps me understand more
> easily what a query is trying to achieve. It also helps debugging IMO.

How, exactly are joins different, in your opinion?
.
> 
> So I'd say that by and large my experience has been positive and that I find
> the style a lot easier to understand.

SQL is modeled after naive set theory. The most basic goal of SQL is to help 
users
define what to select from where. SQL can be described as "Venn diagrams meet 
spreadsheets".
In order to achieve that, one should specify columns being selected and 
conditions that
must be met in order for the row to qualify for the desired subset. My greatest 
beef with
ANSI joins is precisely the fact that all the columns from both tables are 
included in the
join. The language of ANSI join is an idiotization of the standard SQL. Whoever 
came up
with that deserves to die slow and horrible death. Probably, someone has had a 
cunning plan
how to make SQL better. Result is what I call a Baldrick addendum to the 
standard SQL.

-- 
Mladen Gogala
http://www.mladen-gogala.com

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