SELECT as the first keyword also makes sense as an opening indicator of the SQL statement's type. "Start a new task that SELECTs data" (then "what [data] do I w

SELECT as the first keyword also makes sense as an opening indicator of the SQL statement's type. "Start a new task that SELECTs data" (then "what [data] do I want" then "given these rules") instead of INSERT, UPDATE, etc. From a source code structure perspective "SELECT foo ...;" sort of works like a function header: "function foo() { ... };"