363
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by drekly@lemmy.world to c/programming@programming.dev

"UPDATE table_name SET w = $1, x = $2, z = $4 WHERE y = $3 RETURNING *",

does not do the same as

"UPDATE table_name SET w = $1, x = $2, y = $3, z = $4 RETURNING *",

It's 2 am and my mind blanked out the WHERE, and just wanted the numbers neatly in order of 1234.

idiot.

FML.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] o11c@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago

This is about the one thing where SQL is a badly designed language, and you should use a frontend that forces you to write your queries in the order (table, filter, columns) for consistency.

UPDATE table_name WHERE y = $3 SET w = $1, x = $2, z = $4 RETURNING *
FROM table_name SELECT w, x, y, z
[-] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 9 points 1 year ago

I get mildly mad all the time when writing SQL because I feel like it's upside down

Instead of

select u.id. u.email, p.name
from user u
join persona p on p.user_id = u.id
where u.active = true

where the columns are referenced before they're defined (like what is u.id? Keep reading to find out!)

it should instead be

from user u
join persona p on u.id = p.user_id
where u.active = true
select u.id, u.email, p.name

Now nothing is defined before it's used, and you're less likely to miss your where clause. I usually write the joins first anyway because I know what tables I care about, but don't know which specific things I'll want.

I can't think of any other languages that use things before they're defined except extremely dysfunctional JavaScript.

[-] JWBananas@startrek.website 1 points 1 year ago

From the cabinet, get a cup.

this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
363 points (97.6% liked)

Programming

17701 readers
114 users here now

Welcome to the main community in programming.dev! Feel free to post anything relating to programming here!

Cross posting is strongly encouraged in the instance. If you feel your post or another person's post makes sense in another community cross post into it.

Hope you enjoy the instance!

Rules

Rules

  • Follow the programming.dev instance rules
  • Keep content related to programming in some way
  • If you're posting long videos try to add in some form of tldr for those who don't want to watch videos

Wormhole

Follow the wormhole through a path of communities !webdev@programming.dev



founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS