Oh I get that, and that kind of was my point. I created those to show the inconsistency of the interface that SQL is. You have to internalize those inconsiste

Oh I get that, and that kind of was my point. I created those to show the inconsistency of the interface that SQL is. You have to internalize those inconsistent bits. Sometimes you specify, other times you get everything out of the different sets. The mental model of SQL is split. In some cases it is 'get these items from the set and if you dont you will get a syntax error' in other cases it is 'filter these items from the whole set and if you dont you get everything'. I see a lot of people new to SQL who that trips up. Some people are sayin 'well just for update/delete make the where condition not optional'. That at least seems fair and fixes the easy issue, but then that is one more inconsistency in the language that SQL is. I am saying just go one step further and make unconditional always. There are some who disagree. That is fine. My guess we get a mode in most SQLs with the update/delete one. I think that is at least a decent compromise.