Revolutionizing SQL with pipe syntax, now available in BigQuery and Cloud Logging
Since its invention 50 years ago, SQL has become the universal language used across the database industry. Its familiar syntax and well-established community have truly democratized how people access data everywhere. But let's face it, SQL isn't perfect. SQL's syntax has several issues that make it harder to read and write:
These issues can make SQL more difficult for new users. Even for expert users, reading or writing SQL takes more work than should be necessary. A more convenient syntax would help everyone.
Over the years, several alternative languages and APIs have been proposed, and some have had some success in narrow applications. Many of these, including Apache Beam and Python DataFrames, use piped data flow, which makes it easy to compose queries arbitrarily. Many users find this syntax easier to understand and more usable than SQL.
But SQL is ubiquitous, and unlikely to be replaced any time soon. Learning a new language and migrating workloads to new tools is simply too much for most users.
