Both CTEs and this idea address the same problem: poor readability of complex SQL queries. Compared to CTEs, the author takes the idea to split the complex quer

Both CTEs and this idea address the same problem: poor readability of complex SQL queries. Compared to CTEs, the author takes the idea to split the complex query into parts to the next level. To your point - a solid IDE will show you what's being processed at each line (or returned, if the cursor is on the last line) - in an autocomplete window or a side panel.