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0 pointswhstl2y ago0 comments

The fear of committing SQL to the codebase is one of the most baffling things in modern backends.

To me the most infuriating thing is the "SQL query scattered around multiple files" pattern, where a backend engineer will decompose a perfectly fine SQL query into 3 or 4 files, with multiple functions, often with very artificial separations (for example: a function just for the "select ..." part, another for the joins).

All that in the name of having small files, small functions, small lines. You take complexity away from the "micro" parts and embed it into the invisible parts of your program.

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2 comments · 2 top-level

icedchai2y ago

I hate this, also. This was a "design pattern" (antipattern) at a previous company. It was incredibly difficult to navigate SQL built like this. We were also asked to write "unit tests" for each micro-function. This was essentially a pointless exercise that compared each function call to a string, copy-and-pasted from the function itself, with no regard to the correctness of the overall query. At least it was easy to make the tests pass.

hot_gril2y ago

We're using some tool at work that recommends putting SQL into dedicated separate files, one file per query. Or you can use the query builder which is just SQL but with extra steps, limitations, and caveats. It's so annoying.

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