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> I think he's referring to the terrible terrible terrible procedural components of T-SQL - cursors, local variables, IF/THEN control blocks, etc. Sure. It als

> I think he's referring to the terrible terrible terrible procedural components of T-SQL - cursors, local variables, IF/THEN control blocks, etc. Sure. It also has stored procedures/functions/etc. But just because it has elements of imperative->procedural language doesn't mean it is a procedural language. No more than C#'s LINQ implementations mean C# is a declarative language or lambda expressions means it is a functional language. And though I'm not of a fan of cursors, it is a legacy of a time when it was somewhat needed. And nothing about local variables/controls/etc makes T-SQL "terrible". All of it is necessary for database maintenance, t-sql programming, etc.

Pxtl 9y ago
> And nothing about local variables/controls/etc makes T-SQL "terrible". Compared to a full-featured programming language? It's good for its intent, which is to provide a minimal bit of procedural scaffolding for scripts that alter the database. It is terrible as a general-purpose procedural programming language, and I've worked with too much horrifying T-SQL and PL/SQL that pushes these tools way too far out of their intended workflow. Yes, T-SQL is predominantely a declarative language. But it includes procedural components for writing procedural scripts. And unless we're talking about maintenance scripts or deployment scripts, don't use them.
- ianamartin 9y ago
  You just need to calm down. Everyone here has spent a certain amount of time dealing with shitty code. That's all you're really claiming here. That some people write shitty code. And I agree. I've spent plenty of time with almost every flavor of SQL code that was incredibly shitty. But I don't really blame the languages that much. I blame the people who didn't understand when and where to use one language or another. And frankly, if you're seriously going to complain about T-SQL vs other "more full featured programming languages" and then make a blanket statement about not using any procedural components on SQL flavors . . . ummm, you might be your own worst enemy here.
  - Pxtl 9y ago
    > You just need to calm down. You just said "I would shit a brick and beat a developer" upthread.

Pxtl 9y ago

> And nothing about local variables/controls/etc makes T-SQL "terrible". Compared to a full-featured programming language? It's good for its intent, which is to provide a minimal bit of procedural scaffolding for scripts that alter the database. It is terrible as a general-purpose procedural programming language, and I've worked with too much horrifying T-SQL and PL/SQL that pushes these tools way too far out of their intended workflow. Yes, T-SQL is predominantely a declarative language. But it includes procedural components for writing procedural scripts. And unless we're talking about maintenance scripts or deployment scripts, don't use them.

ianamartin 9y ago
You just need to calm down. Everyone here has spent a certain amount of time dealing with shitty code. That's all you're really claiming here. That some people write shitty code. And I agree. I've spent plenty of time with almost every flavor of SQL code that was incredibly shitty. But I don't really blame the languages that much. I blame the people who didn't understand when and where to use one language or another. And frankly, if you're seriously going to complain about T-SQL vs other "more full featured programming languages" and then make a blanket statement about not using any procedural components on SQL flavors . . . ummm, you might be your own worst enemy here.
- Pxtl 9y ago
  > You just need to calm down. You just said "I would shit a brick and beat a developer" upthread.