SQL#: A Language for Maintainable and Debuggable Database Queries
Yamin Hu, Hao Jiang, Hanlin Tang, Xin Lin, Zongyao Hu · International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering · 2023
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the dominant language for managing relational databases. However, complex SQL queries are hard to write and maintain because of the intricate inter-table and inter-column relations. To this end, we propose a novel query language called SQL#, which allows programmers to construct complex queries module by module and explicitly specify the relations between different modules according to the logical steps of constructing queries. Besides, we design a SQL#-based system, aiming to facilitate the maintenance of SQL# queries. Specifically, the system renders a SQL# program into a hierarchical graph, which could help programmers understand the high-level structures of SQL# programs and the intricate relations between different components within SQL# programs. In addition, the system can ease the generation of the intermediate tables that correspond to the logical steps of constructing queries, which could help programmers debug complex SQL# queries. Notably, the design of SQL# makes it easy for the system to generate the hierarchical graph and the intermediate tables. Controlled experiments suggest that the SQL#-based system reduces the durations of writing and understanding database queries by 79% and 39%, respectively, compared to raw SQL code.