A Survey of SQL Language

SQL is the standard (ANSI and ISO) query language for relational database systems. It is increasingly used widely on various platforms as the main language to access databases. Beside theoretical analyses and laboratory studies with students, there is little information on SQL usage in practice. A survey was executed to identify major SQL users and applications, users’ perception of SQL, utilization of SQL features, and errors and problems that users encounter. The main SQL users are analysts and database administrators, which together formed 70.6%. There are very few end-users. SQL is very widely used in various applications. Queries are quite evenly spread from the very simple to the very complex, with users wishing for more complex capabilities. A surprisingly large 82% of queries contain syntax or logical errors, and require multiple attempts by users. Notwithstanding these, users have very good perception of SQL.