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Comment by throwatdem12311

19 hours ago

I have a hell of a time just getting any LLM to write SQL queries that have things like window functions, aggregates and lateral left joins - even when shoving the entire database schema DDL into the context.

It's so frustrating, it regularly makes me want to just quit the profession. Which is why I still just write most code by hand.

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throwatdem12311

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data-ottawa  16 hours ago

I write a lot of SQL and I haven't had these issues for months, even with smaller models. Opus can one shot most of my queries faster than I could type them.

Instead of stuffing the context with DDL I suggest:

1. Reorganize your data warehouse. It needs to be easy to find the correct data. Make sure you use ELT clear layers, meaningful schemas, and have per-model documentation. This is a ton of work, but if done right the payoff is massive.

2. I built a tool for myself to pull our warehouse into a graph for fuzzy search+dependency chain analysis. In the spring I made an MCP server for it and Claude uses that tool incredibly well for almost all queries. I haven't actually used the GUI or scripts since I built the MCP.

Claude and Devstral are the best models I've used for SQL. I cannot get Gemini to write decent modern sql -- even the Gemini data science/engineer agents in Google Cloud. I occasionally try the paid models through the API and still haven't been impressed.

deadbabe  17 hours ago

If you really know SQL, writing an SQL query basically just feels like writing a prompt for a database client anyway, except it does exactly what you ask for.

  • throwatdem12311  16 hours ago

    I have a running joke at work.

    * LLMs are just matrix multiplication. * SQL is just algebra, which has matrix multiplication as part of it. * Therefore SQL is AI * Now who is ready to invest a billion dollars in our AI SaaS company?

    Or it’s just that astronaut with a gun meme: “Wait AI is just SQL?….Alway has been.”