Reading through those comments, one stood out to me.
> AFAIK the idea was that SQL is so close to plain English that any accountant could simply use it to generate reports or enter data. It's really an old fallacy that using plain language would make complexity go away.
>
> beew001
Was responding to a thread about how SQL was meant to be "low code" if not "no code", and even COBOL before it.
Now in 2026 with LLMs I'm finding a lot of what's said in that comment section is still true. Would love if some commenters from that original thread popped back in here.
An article from 2018, and HN discussion from 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16903440
Reading through those comments, one stood out to me.
> AFAIK the idea was that SQL is so close to plain English that any accountant could simply use it to generate reports or enter data. It's really an old fallacy that using plain language would make complexity go away. > > beew001
Was responding to a thread about how SQL was meant to be "low code" if not "no code", and even COBOL before it.
Now in 2026 with LLMs I'm finding a lot of what's said in that comment section is still true. Would love if some commenters from that original thread popped back in here.