SQL Joins + Where Clauses.

Beowulf and Grendel. Perfect Match or Monsters?

Have you ever read the story of Beowulf and Grendel? It’s a tale of two ancient titans locked in a battle of wits and death. You almost feel bad for the evil Grendel, wanting him to win. Beowulf is the hero, prideful, and in the prime of life. It sort of reminds me of SQL Joins (Beowulf) and Where Clauses (Grendel).

Each is wonderful in its own way, capable of helping us out of inevitable bubbling and Moorish quagmires of data we find ourselves in. But combined, we find a peat bog of sinking sand and watery traps of seduction waiting to pull us down into Sheol.

SQL Joins and Where Clauses. It’s what we cut our teeth on years ago when meticulously playing around on Postgres or SQL Server, tuning our queries like stringed harps, and sending our beloved compositions into the heavens. Each is easy enough to use, together a blade sharp enough to draw blood on the most experienced Data Engineer when they make the foolish decision to relax their mental hold on the tasks at hand.

What tale will we spin today? Tales of using SQL Joins and Where Clauses together, and the evil that can lurk down that dark path, devouring the unsuspecting.

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