June 4, 2026
SELECT * FROM drama
Learn SQL Once, Use It for 30 Years
The internet agrees SQL ages like wine — but the comments turned into a nerd cage match
TLDR: The article argues SQL is unusually valuable because it stays useful for decades, unlike many fast-changing coding tools. Commenters mostly agreed on its staying power, but sparked a mini-war over whether JavaScript was unfairly dragged and whether SQL even deserves the crown.
A bold claim hit the timeline: learn SQL once, use it for 30 years. The article’s big point is simple enough for anyone to get — while trendy coding tools keep changing their look, their rules, and basically their whole personality, SQL, the old-school language used to ask databases questions, keeps chugging along with almost the same playbook decade after decade. That made a lot of readers nod along… and then immediately start arguing.
The loudest reaction was basically: “Yes, but don’t drag JavaScript for this.” Several commenters said the comparison to React — a popular web tool — was unfair, because React is software that changes fast, while JavaScript itself is older and far more stable. One person bluntly said that comparing SQL to React “weakens the argument,” while another reminded everyone that old JavaScript still runs today, calling that stability both a blessing and a burden.
Then came the classic comment-section flexing. A few readers jumped in with the eternal programmer move: “Actually, there are better systems than SQL.” Names like D4M and Datalog got tossed around like underground bands only the cool kids know. Meanwhile, others kept it relatable, saying they’d used SQL practice sites to level up and admitting their own knowledge was "outdated by 20 years" — which is honestly the funniest proof of the article’s point. The vibe? Half love letter, half custody battle, with SQL sitting in the middle like the dependable ex everyone secretly misses.
Key Points
- •The article argues that SQL syntax and query patterns have remained usable for decades, citing a 1995-style query that it says still runs in PostgreSQL 18 in 2026.
- •It contrasts SQL with a 2015 React example that the article says would need to be rewritten because older React APIs no longer work unchanged.
- •The article attributes SQL’s durability to its basis in relational algebra and describes SQL as a declarative language whose execution can improve without changing query intent.
- •It recommends that junior developers learn practical SQL topics such as joins, subqueries, window functions, and query plans.
- •The article says SQL’s long-term backwards compatibility has preserved persistent design issues such as NULL semantics, GROUP BY repetition, vendor-specific date handling, and differing dialects.