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SQL is one of those things that feels like javascript 15 years ago: It's easy to learn, but every SQL server does things their own way and has their own feature

SQL is one of those things that feels like javascript 15 years ago: It's easy to learn, but every SQL server does things their own way and has their own feature set. SQL performance is usually the single hardest thing to optimize in a project, and anything non trivial often requires server specific knowledge. SQL is probably one of the most useful things to learn when it comes to software development. It's probably also one of the hardest things to master just because you often need to know how things actually work under the hood and design around that. SQL is awesome!

brianmcc 4y ago
Agree SQL has a number of different dialects and quirks. But I think comparing it to JS and its Cambrian Explosion of frameworks and trends does it a disservice. I started working with SQL in about 1997 and in my experience I've seen a fairly gradual set of changes, and the move from one DB to another - MySQL to Sybase to Oracle to Postgres - has proven pretty straightforward, with most things staying either identical or similar to the point of total non-issue. The reason I say this is to try and dissuade anyone from rejecting SQL as "yet another tech moving so fast it's barely worth learning". SQL is very stable and is worth picking up on any major platform - your knowledge gained will 100% be a valuable investment!
- randomdata 4y ago
  > The reason I say this is to try and dissuade anyone from rejecting SQL as "yet another tech moving so fast it's barely worth learning". What's fast moving about Javascript? It has certainly picked up some features along the way, and compatibility across implementations has improved, but the code I remember writing 25 years ago would still work just fine. Overall, it's quite stable and slow moving. The 'ORMs' of the Javascript world, to stick with the analogy, have a reputation of being replaced every few months, but that's a different topic entirely. ORMs of the SQL world aren't much better. All the more reason to focus on the core language in both cases.

brianmcc 4y ago

Agree SQL has a number of different dialects and quirks. But I think comparing it to JS and its Cambrian Explosion of frameworks and trends does it a disservice. I started working with SQL in about 1997 and in my experience I've seen a fairly gradual set of changes, and the move from one DB to another - MySQL to Sybase to Oracle to Postgres - has proven pretty straightforward, with most things staying either identical or similar to the point of total non-issue. The reason I say this is to try and dissuade anyone from rejecting SQL as "yet another tech moving so fast it's barely worth learning". SQL is very stable and is worth picking up on any major platform - your knowledge gained will 100% be a valuable investment!

randomdata 4y ago
> The reason I say this is to try and dissuade anyone from rejecting SQL as "yet another tech moving so fast it's barely worth learning". What's fast moving about Javascript? It has certainly picked up some features along the way, and compatibility across implementations has improved, but the code I remember writing 25 years ago would still work just fine. Overall, it's quite stable and slow moving. The 'ORMs' of the Javascript world, to stick with the analogy, have a reputation of being replaced every few months, but that's a different topic entirely. ORMs of the SQL world aren't much better. All the more reason to focus on the core language in both cases.