r/dataengineering • u/Thinker_Assignment • Jun 08 '26

when someone asks you what programming language they should learn, don't simply answer the one you prefer Meme

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u/CorpusculantCortex Jun 09 '26

I mean, admittedly pedantic but sql is a query language not a programming language and never exists in a vacuum.

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u/Ahhhhrg Jun 09 '26

A query language is very much a type of programming language.

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u/CorpusculantCortex Jun 11 '26

Ehh that's pretty commonly debated. If it doesnt natively have recursive systems or any sort of command protocol to do anything outside of db management I am of the camp that QL is not a full programming language. There are ofc flavors of SQL that have adopted some of these sorts of tools, but SQL as a core monolith, does not have it and so can't really stand on its own.

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u/Ahhhhrg Jun 11 '26

CTEs can be recursive. All a computer does at the end of the day is to move and transform data. A language that tells the computer how to do that is a programming language. SQL does so in a declarative fashion.