9 Reasons Why SQL Data (Really) Matters

We know you’re not searching for nine reasons to prove that SQL data matters. But it wouldn’t hurt to know them, now, would it?

SQL has been in the game for a long time, and it’s not going anywhere. In this article, we will cover a variety of features of SQL that make it stand out. Keep reading to find out. 

1. Old-Timer

SQL/RDBMS has been around for long, starting with offline databases pre-web to heavily-modified databases for apples like Instagram. 

They are reliable and have millions of hours of production value invested in them. There’s not much else to say about a database that works. Not only does it work, but it also works well with information that is just waiting to corrupt, experience loss, or fail. 

These cases are all mitigated by the advanced solutions of operational rigor, change management, backups – all of which art part of the SQL database.

2. Data Volume Management

Any real data science involves large volumes of data that are stored in a relational database. Spreadsheets just can’t manage this data. 

As the volume of data increases, spreadsheets become obsolete. So the next best bet is SQL. With it, you don’t have to worry about dealing with large pools of data, as it can communicate, provide, and query insights from the entirety of a data set.

3. Simple Math

SQL was designed on tuple relational calculus and relational algebra. Two forms of math specifically developed for such databases. And if SQL was designed for data, then it excels at data. That’s pretty much how it works 

If you put a mirror on a wall, it serves a purpose. So does SQL, and it does it very well.

4. Community & Involvement

When a thing has been around for so long and deliberately extended its roots into a variety of streams of IT, it is bound to have some sort of community involvement surrounding it. 

Over the years, SQL knowledge has been shared through the medium of community groups, documentation, and technical talent expressed on social media. 

With a vast body of accessible information and an active community, you can acquire skills that cannot be attained without such a presence. Because life gravitates towards the advancement of technology, so do these groups. And as the level of knowledge depends, the abilities of the community expand. 

5. Integration

As much as SQL is great a data manipulation, query, and access – it does have limiting faculties, such as visualization. As a data user, you have to present your data that can easily be understood by anyone. 

SQL cannot do this, but it does integrate with Python and R. Both of these can help you incorporate the data into a code package through the formation of a stored procedure. 

Also, SQL has connection libraries, such as MySQLdb and SQLite, which can be helpful when you are connecting an application to an engine, allowing you to manipulate and interact with a dataset.

You can also integrate Knowi to compound elastic searches using your own data.

6. Simple

SQL is a simple language to learn. It can take a matter of hours to learn how to execute basic functionality, such as query runs and data returns. 

Even non-technical people are known to learn the basics of SQL to help support their role within the enterprise. 

But, SQL can be taken on another level by deep involvement, which leads to a multitude of possibilities that open to a regular SQL enthusiast.

7. Open-Source

Even though SQL moved toward open-source databases, it isn’t completely interoperable. Vendors are using a variety of other standards, primarily because of the variable syntax. SQL syntax varies from vendor to vendor, but it is entirely possible to reuse it with minor modifications. 

Nonetheless, this is less than ideal, and vendors would prefer for it not to be reusable. 

But databases like MongoDB and PostgreSQL serve different purposes, hence why one is open-source, and the other not.

8. Omnipresent

With over half of the develops using SQL in some form, it is safe to presume that the language is ubiquitous. And this is not bad. 

Knowledge thrives in this industry, and because of the simplicity, SQL is common amongst developers. 

​This means that the skill set is widely-present, and talent is already available in overbearing amounts, which stems from continuous growth who want to employ SQL in their work for a company.

Therefore, the ubiquity of the SQL database has helped the community develop a round-about model for growth.

9. SQL and NoSQL Are Not the Same

A database is a tool and each one of them serves a different purpose. There’s time series, blockchains, embedded, key values, SQL, and much more. Each database is good at something, and bad at something else.

For instance, a relational database is great when you have to share a relationship within a system, that you cannot have seen otherwise considering all of the possible data permutations, usage, and aggregation. And in reality, most systems fall in this category of infliction. 

Not to mention, SQL is user-friendly and helps organize data in the way that you like.

Of course, SQL databases have drawbacks, but for most jobs, they will blow over any other NoSQL solution without issue. And it might seem that scale is an issue, but you’re not Google. 

Even with SQL, you can manage millions of users with no issue. And you can even scale RDBMS with some minimally-invasive tradeoffs.

SQL Data Matters

Now that you understand why SQL data matters, you’ve probably come to realize that it is not going anywhere. It has its place, and it’s well deserved. 

If you’re interested in reading more about similar topics, check out the rest of our blog.