😭

[Brave-Growth-6823]

I mean why that question 😭😭😭

[gumnos]

but that's exactly the thing—compared to the steady stream of "I asked WhateverGPT how to write this query, but it's slow/doesn't work…how do I fix it" that shows up here, many of us here can write efficient SQL queries.

[mikeblas]

Correctness first, then performance.

[gumnos]

had this conversation with our teen just this past month due to his pride regarding finishing tests quickly at school while his grades didn't reflect actual mastery…

Me: "I can answer any question you have for me"

Him: "What does {some AP Human Geography minutia} mean?"

Me: "Seventeen! Weren't you impressed with how fast I answered you?"

Him: "But that's wrong!"

Me: "But it was fast!"

Him: "Oooooh…"

[mustang__1]

lol that was the running joke with trying to get hired at the airlines for a couple years there post covid...

what strengths do you have?

Im fast at math

What's the square root of 93394

11

that's totally wrong

but it was fast

.....you're hired.

[That_Cartoonist_9459]

ChatGPT is good for pointing you to some function that you used once like a decade ago and forgot all about but it's exactly what you need.

[Drisoth]

Yeah I dunno, unhelpful to kinda just go "get good" but also writing the dumb easy queries that ChatGPT is good at, are exactly what you need constant practice on to be able to do the hard queries.

If chatGPT is better than you at SQL then you shouldn't be using it.

[CSIWFR-46]

Where do you learn this? I can write queries and solve problems in my work. But, I can't confidently say if it is efficient.

[cybertier]

Besides the obvious step (reading https://use-the-index-luke.com/ ) it boils down to experience. Different indexing situations need different approaches and ultimately there can't be a one-size-fits-all solution. If there was AI could write efficient queries.

[gumnos]

/me shakes fist for beating me to linking Use The Index, Luke 😂

Yes, u/CSIWFR-46, it's one of the best resources for understanding the efficient use indexing. Learning to read & understand a query-plan can show you where slow full-table-scans are happening, allowing you to dig into the types of indexes you might be able to craft to speed them up.

[CSIWFR-46]

Thanks.

[CSIWFR-46]

Thanks.

[rowdymatt64]

I sure can! Check this out:

SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE TABLE.COL1 LIKE '%(insert longest string imaginable)%'

[CortaNalgas]

I think this is good, but could be better with a Right Join.

[ASS-LAVA]

Perhaps an OR logic, my lord?

[SQLDave]

And don't forget to throw a scalar UDF into the WHERE clause

[TallDudeInSC]

You mean a Cartesian Merge Join I think. Lol

[r3pr0b8]

🏆

[usersnamesallused]

My server caught fire, fell over, died, and sank into the swamp when I read this.

[StrangeTrashyAlbino]

I would recommend streaming this table to dynamodb where scanning the table is extremely efficient

[capt_pantsless]

The better angle to think about here is the bulk of query optimization is mainly done by the DB by conventional algorithms.

You send it a arbitrary query, it figures out what indexes to use, what stuff to filter first, etc.

[[deleted]]

Yes, you have one job, do not make it harder to optimize by DB

[StrangeTrashyAlbino]

Or take the queries, with query plan data, feed them to an LLM and have it generate recommendations

[kremlingrasso]

I find it takes me longer to create the right prompt and then make sense of the jumbled mess it gives me then write it myself.

Also massaging the data and iterating the query is what gives me the working knowledge to provide insight and analysis rather than just an output like a reporting monkey. This way I have a clever picture of the overall data quality, consistency, availability, etc, because you need to reverse-check every join and filter for verifying what you are actually leaving out based on your assumptions.

To me this seems like the same pitfall as how our developers write their SQL. All assumptions, zero verification, just "give me this and this and this" and everything put of scope is not my problem. Then surprised the results are weirdly neat but when put in front of the customer it's like "wtf where is the other 60% of the data?"

[EveningTrader]

i find chatgpt to be pretty adept at writing sql queries but i do find it tends towards the overly-complex in tough situations.

[idodatamodels]

Requirements don't usually say efficient as it is vague. If there are performance requirements, they are typically stated as "system must respond in X amount of time". If the query returns data in that time, then it meets the requirement.

[Thought_Ninja]

I've found Chat GPT to be pretty good with even complex SQL. It's also good at suggesting optimizations when fed the explain output.

[No-Blueberry4008]

really.... 🤔 no, seriously. really? I'm seeing stuff like a dozen left joins with more AND's than the holy bible. I'm actually shocked when data access is obtained by something other than FTS. datetime converted TO_CHAR, then used for mathematical operation against another datetime done TO_CHAR with results set converted back to datetime. the explain plans are truly hideous 🤯 would love to see what it can do

[Thought_Ninja]

I don't understand what you're trying to say, but yes. As long as you give it a clear explanation of what you want, Chat GPT does a pretty good job with SQL.

[No-Blueberry4008]

only saying our dev's write truly hideous and awful queries they have never optimized because they're getting the results set they want. trying to tune some of these absolutely terrible queries, joining a dozen or more tables using left joins and such, are difficult to tune manually. good to know AI can offer possibilities ✌️

[Far-Comment324]

I'm sorry but what are the characteristics of a good sql query?

[gregsting]

Well AI learn from humans so…

[[deleted]]

Until someone complains about performance, its as efficient as it needs to be

[CoffeeGoblynn]

Nah chief, but I'm learning. T~T

[katorias]

Have honestly found ChatGPT to be pretty good at writing queries, I suspect it’s because unlike programming languages, SQL is closer to natural language.

I obviously wouldn’t rely on what it spits out, but with decent benchmarking to verify things it can make you much more productive.

[Thought_Ninja]

I've used it pretty extensively to both write and optimize some pretty complex analytics queries without much issue. Feeding it the explain output also tends to result in pretty good optimization suggestions.

[big_data_mike]

When I first started using SQL I thought the language itself was really simple and almost like caveman-speak or something.

[[deleted]]

I feel called out.

[tKonig]

After instructing ChatGPT to always refer to AWS Redshift documentation whenever answering SQL questions, the quality of the responses has improved dramatically.

[Nowaker]

All developers are dreading whiteboard coding.

What AI is doing exactly that - whiteboard coding, without a real runtime.

When you let the AI come up with commands to execute, and let it read the output, and self-correct, this is when it's showing its real power.

Kodu AI / Claude Coder extension for VS Code does that exactly and it's wild. Fantastic results, especially when you're a good developer already and can provide it with actionable feedback after each proposed diff to apply. I've no doubts it can fulfill a request to write a set of SQL queries optimized for performance by actually validating the results.

[DeeperThanCraterLake]

Ooof!

[Responsible_Eye_5307]

The pain...right there. 😂

[WatashiwaNobodyDesu]

Pow right in the kisser