[delinka]

Please provide some substance to your post. What other options exist? What are some references you've used to work with those options?

[ZenPsycho]

Well back when SQL was first created, there was a superior alternative named QUEL. Fast forward to today, and with the proliferation of programming languages that easily support high level concepts, it doesn't take that much imagination to think of better ways of dealing with large relation-values. linq for example. Going along a different direction, the language Prolog, and its much improved derivative Mercury take the concept of query languages to really amazingly awesome places. The quite well done software package PrinceXML was written in Mercury.

Edit: I also want to add Datalog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datalog

and list comprehensions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_comprehensions

[pygy_]

The main advantage of SQL(ike) is that it is familiar, and allows a lot of people to be productive quickly.

It's a shame that QUEL lost to SQL. Betamax vs. VHS, all over again.

[ZenPsycho]

I'm all for empowering people to do useful work, but when you're empowering them to do stupid things that will have to be rewritten later, it's less good.