I agree with you and think this backwards model leads to developers having a poor mental model of what they are doing. Step 1: build the dataset you want (FROM

I agree with you and think this backwards model leads to developers having a poor mental model of what they are doing. Step 1: build the dataset you want (FROM and JOIN) with all columns. Step 2: filter out the rows you don't want (WHERE). Step 3: choose which columns/values you want (SELECT). Maybe it's just me but this model makes so much more sense to me! I'm sure not every developer has the same way of thinking, but it sure does seem more logical to me.