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On 02/07/2012 03:06 PM, Andreas Säger wrote:
Am 07.02.2012 16:52, Jay Lozier wrote:

Most people are scared off by having to develop queries, particularly if
they must use SQL. It is too much like programming to them and that
tends to scare them; seemingly arcane rules and syntax that does not
appear very flexible or easy to use.


Some of them are so desparately trying to organize their data in spreadsheets that they start learning an extinct programming lingo together with formulas like
=IF(ISERROR(INDEX(INPUT.$A$2:$A$301;MATCH(A3;INPUT.$B$2:$B$301;0)));"";INDEX(INPUT.$A$2:$A$301;MATCH(A3;INPUT.$B$2:$B$301;0))) +IF(ISERROR(INDEX(INPUT.$A$3:$A$300;MATCH(A3;INPUT.$D$3:$D$300;0)));"";INDEX(INPUT.$A$3:$A$300;MATCH(A3;INPUT.$D$3:$D$300;0)))



The irony is that most SQL queries are easier to understand because they reference tables and columns by name (out of necessity) and usually have a selection criteria that is makes contextual sense, such as vendor name. The above is not easy to follow or debug, I know because I do similar in the past.

SELECT    column names
FROM    table
WHERE    criteria for selection

is easier to follow, even when the query is much more complex

--
Jay Lozier
jslozier@gmail.com


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