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0 pointspreseinger3y ago0 comments

> if sql was declarative, than the code of the SQL above would be: GIVE ME ALL THE COST OF THE EMPLOYEES --, I DONT CARE ABOUT THE DETAILS

This is exactly what SQL is. There are exceptions, but they're exceptions.

> an SQL query itself (if no structured language used) is just a big function applied on a set.

I don't think you have a correct model of SQL. SQL is a language that expresses definitions, not functions. It is absolutely declarative.

Some extensions of SQL can provide functional capabilities, yes, but they are exceptional.

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6 comments · 1 top-level

spamtarget3y ago· 5 in thread

>This is exactly what SQL is. There are exceptions, but they're exceptions.

no, i meant the query is literally this: GIVE ME ALL THE COST OF THE EMPLOYEES

or if we want to formalize more: ALL COST OF ALL EMPLOYEES

the point here that in a declarative mindset EMPLOYEE is a word that SQL server understands, like HTML understand paragraph <p> or table with rows and cells <table><tr><td>

>I don't think you have a correct model of SQL. SQL is a language that expresses definitions, not functions. It is absolutely declarative.

that just not true. without defining the how through transformations and conditions, the only thing you get out of the sql server is a table how it is stored. until you reach a certain complexity you are true, it can be seen as declarative, but my point here, is the approach of problem solving is the separation here. you dont even have to speak about computers:

cooking recipe VS assembly lines in factories VS a robot with ai, which can do whatever is programmed to, but in certain cases work out the details by itself when not given specifically (not the best example, but started to get exhausted)

Also how would you say that by nature HTML and SQL is the same?

gfody3y ago

it is possible to reduce your query w/case statements to essentially "all cost of all employees" if you would model every type of employee and cost relationally (and then some view for all-employees which is the union of each type projecting the approptiate cost and so on) then your query gets to just ask for records again without having to "tell how" those things are to become records.

I dont think html is anything like sql (only in the sense that all markup languages are also declarative) but a comprable situation would be if you were trying to render some ascii art in html and had to use pre tags in order to tell the layout engine how to show it.

spamtarget3y ago

It is not possible, but it is the future, you already have a glimpse with chatgpt creating sql for you. Now that is real, 100% declarative SQL, no debate on that, as everything will be some-when in the future.

You are describe here the abstraction you create on a primitive (related to the system you design) system, and introduce ideas like "employee" "unions" etc If you do good job, when you programming you combine generic purpose systems and introducing new ideas in a way that another human can understand (words), but in certain way you "made the computer system understand" those things too. That's your job. So basically you teach SQL server that a union employee is a thing with the dbo.IsEmployeeUnion function.

In case of html you are not introducing new things. You actually can, because the browser is really flexible (like i make a non-functional quasi elements a lot, to make the html code itself more understandable), but HTML is not designed for you to introduce new elements/ideas (originally, nowadays kinda with CSS). Anyways this is how you see the difference in another way.

I try to tell all of you how the technical details, the implementation does not matter, only just the language itself, when we speak about paradigms, but it seems i'm failing.

By the way, i think training AI models does not fit to any of the paradigms we have here, it's gonna be (or it is?) a new way to solve problems, and that also has nothing to do with files, or any kind of implementation. The important is what you see on the screen, and what you do.

preseingerOP3y ago

You do not understand SQL. HTML and SQL are essentially unrelated. It would be to your benefit to spend some time reading and learning on these topics.

spamtarget3y ago

Of course they are, however they are both languages. And you classify them into the same category, so it should have some similarities, right?

preseingerOP3y ago

I am not classifying them into the same category. I am explicitly doing the opposite. SQL is declarative, HTML is a markup language, they are categorically different.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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6 comments · 1 top-level

spamtarget3y ago· 5 in thread

>This is exactly what SQL is. There are exceptions, but they're exceptions.

no, i meant the query is literally this: GIVE ME ALL THE COST OF THE EMPLOYEES

or if we want to formalize more: ALL COST OF ALL EMPLOYEES

the point here that in a declarative mindset EMPLOYEE is a word that SQL server understands, like HTML understand paragraph <p> or table with rows and cells <table><tr><td>

>I don't think you have a correct model of SQL. SQL is a language that expresses definitions, not functions. It is absolutely declarative.

Also how would you say that by nature HTML and SQL is the same?

gfody3y ago

spamtarget3y ago

I try to tell all of you how the technical details, the implementation does not matter, only just the language itself, when we speak about paradigms, but it seems i'm failing.

preseingerOP3y ago

You do not understand SQL. HTML and SQL are essentially unrelated. It would be to your benefit to spend some time reading and learning on these topics.

spamtarget3y ago

Of course they are, however they are both languages. And you classify them into the same category, so it should have some similarities, right?

preseingerOP3y ago

I am not classifying them into the same category. I am explicitly doing the opposite. SQL is declarative, HTML is a markup language, they are categorically different.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse