[kllvql]

I have to say, I strongly disagree on this point. I am a coder who works in a variety of languages build on many paradigms, of which SQL is one of my most enjoyable. I agree that the creation of schemas can be painful, but SQL's almost Prolog level of declaration can be beautiful in certain problem spaces. It is unfortunate that the current state of query optimizers leads to leaky abstractions where one must rearrange queries to allow for efficient execution. Still, I have had a great deal of success introducing SQL to otherwise nontechnical people, and they also love the fact that one can describe the solution you desire as opposed to instructing the computer on how to get there. These people particularly benefit from the almost English nature of the language, and I feel I have no right to complain about any syntax with a `use Perl;' background on my desktop.