Jonathan,

JR> The people who define SQL, H2, decided to support XQuery for querying
JR> XML. They started by trying to extend SQL, there have been many 
JR> proposals to do that

Where is it possible to meet considered proposals (to extend SQL)?
In http://jtc1sc32.org/doc/index.html ?
Or in other place ?

JR> Dimitry's SQL5 is not a language that H2 would recognize as SQL.

What is the reasons ?
Why SQL5 would be bring to not SQL ?

JR> I think the industry has been adopting SQL for querying relational data

  I'm very wondered, that industry have not been thinking about
non-programmers: i meet only one mention of this topic - in
publication of 1974: E.F. Codd and C.J. Date,
"Interactive Support for Nonprogrammers: The Relational and Network Approaches".
They wrote (in 1974 !), that role of "random" users was increasing greatly,
and really these users soon would present majority,
and that industry must pay attention other approaches,
required for support of these users.
They had written, it's obvious (for them !), that these users
needs possibility to formulate requsts simpler.
Thay had estimated absence of any intentions to support job of
non-programmers as extremely sad.

  My opinion, code with many enclosed cycles 'for', many 'return' and many tags
isn't observable (seen clearly) even for professinal programmers
(independently what they are saying publicly), not saying about dummers.
Re-write, e.g. , my examples of one line code
(http://sql50.euro.ru/sql5.11.1.ppt slides 41-49) in terms of these much
'for's and 'return's and compare.

JR> and XQuery for querying XML.

  To my mind, SQL5 can be used for querying XML,
and XQuery can be used for querying relational data.
I.e. really language does not depend of format of storing.
  But XQuery is equal bad both for querying XML and for querying
relational.

JR> These languages have been widely perceived as good languages

Trans-national-corporations can make not only this.

JR> Since these are the standards, and they do the job well

They are standardized by TNC, they do job well - this is different things.



Dmitry Turin
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