Re: How do Monks programatically construct SQL selects

[dws]

How do Monks programatically construct SQL selects.

I don't. I tend to work in highly normalized schemas, with "interesting" queries (3-6 table joins, some non-equi-joins, some outer joins). I could spend time trying to warp a framework into generating workable queries, or I could code them by hand. So far, I've gotten there quicker by coding them by hand. By approaching the problem from use cases, building specific queries, I avoid having to solve a bunch of otherwise general-case problems, and can spend the time instead writing specific unit tests.

The problem with programatically generated queries is edge cases--particularly vendor-specific ones. By the time you fight your way around one or two of them, you've eaten up more time than you would have spent hand-coding a few dozen queries.

[mpeppler]

How do Monks programatically construct SQL selects.

I don't.

Indeed. It's interesting how this particular question comes up again and again. Yes, SQL queries can be generated, but when you start using a normalized schema auto-generated queries tend to fall down. In order to get good, repeatable performance it is essential to write well behaved queries (i.e. queries where the JOIN and/or WHERE clauses use appropriate indexes) as a single badly written query can bring even very powerful hardware to its knees...

This is one of the reasons why I always try to use stored procedures where I can.

Michael