Hi, I have a good background in languages like Java/C#/Python/Matlab/VBA. From my experiences I can tell people do not always use languages/tools in the right way. For example: I had to write full working production software using Excel + VBA, a real nightmare I can tell you. C#/Python would do much better for these kind of jobs
Now I am assigned to a new project and as we work with a lot of data SQL comes in sight. For this project people write entire algorithms using the SQL language which go way beyond joins and aggregates. I see SQL scripts on my screen in the range of 100 - 1000 lines of code. As I am not an SQL expert I find it hard to value this. Do they use SQL in the right way or are they abusing SQL and would alternatives be much better, for example SQL for a first selection and Python + pandas for further analyzing?
I am highly aware of the speed and widespread use of SQL which make it a standard for database management. However I am not sure if I want to invest time in it. I feel a bit embarrassed as the foundation of SQL lies in set theory and relational algebra which should make it easy to understand for me as I have multiple degrees in (abstract) math. But I feel some kind of resistance to it, SQL just feels ugly. I highly prefer beautiful languages like Python over ugly languages/tools like PHP or VBA.
Now I am assigned to a new project and as we work with a lot of data SQL comes in sight. For this project people write entire algorithms using the SQL language which go way beyond joins and aggregates. I see SQL scripts on my screen in the range of 100 - 1000 lines of code. As I am not an SQL expert I find it hard to value this. Do they use SQL in the right way or are they abusing SQL and would alternatives be much better, for example SQL for a first selection and Python + pandas for further analyzing?
I am highly aware of the speed and widespread use of SQL which make it a standard for database management. However I am not sure if I want to invest time in it. I feel a bit embarrassed as the foundation of SQL lies in set theory and relational algebra which should make it easy to understand for me as I have multiple degrees in (abstract) math. But I feel some kind of resistance to it, SQL just feels ugly. I highly prefer beautiful languages like Python over ugly languages/tools like PHP or VBA.
Last edited: