They're not hard to read until you see the queries that coworkers at large companies tend to generate. If the query is a novella that joins half of humankind's

They're not hard to read until you see the queries that coworkers at large companies tend to generate. If the query is a novella that joins half of humankind's know data sources, the query plan tends to not be much better. Then there's always the dreaded question: "why is it slow?" "Because you're making the database yearn for the sweet release of death."