Comment by Exuma 12 hours ago Also just let me reference the damn alias in a group by, FUCK 4 comments Exuma Reply sbuttgereit 12 hours ago At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible: localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:15 PST 2025] > create table test (a_key integer primary key, a_group integer, a_val numeric); CREATE TABLE Time: 3.102 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:25 PST 2025] > insert into test (a_key, a_group, a_val) values (1, 1, 5.5), (2, 1, 2.6), (3, 2, 1.1), (4, 2, 6.5); INSERT 0 4 Time: 2.302 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:58 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by my_group; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 4.124 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:03:15 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by 1; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 0.360 ms zX41ZdbW 10 hours ago I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc. kermatt 10 hours ago PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context. mberning 12 hours ago Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.
sbuttgereit 12 hours ago At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible: localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:15 PST 2025] > create table test (a_key integer primary key, a_group integer, a_val numeric); CREATE TABLE Time: 3.102 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:25 PST 2025] > insert into test (a_key, a_group, a_val) values (1, 1, 5.5), (2, 1, 2.6), (3, 2, 1.1), (4, 2, 6.5); INSERT 0 4 Time: 2.302 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:02:58 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by my_group; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 4.124 ms localhost(from SCB-MUSE-BOXX).postgres.scb.5432 [Sun Nov 16 12:03:15 PST 2025] > select a_group AS my_group, sum(a_val) from test group by 1; my_group | sum ----------+----- 2 | 7.6 1 | 8.1 (2 rows) Time: 0.360 ms
zX41ZdbW 10 hours ago I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc.
kermatt 10 hours ago PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context.
mberning 12 hours ago Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.
At least in PostgreSQL, both by alias and ordinal are possible:
I think it should be not only in GROUP BY, but in every context, e.g., inside expressions in SELECT, WHERE, etc.
PostgreSQL and DuckDB support this, which makes MSSQL feel like a dinosaur in context.
Some do. It would also be nice to reference by ordinal number similar to order by. Very handy for quick and dirty queries. I can see the issue though that people start to lean on it too much.