fix grammar and clarity in features and tao #75
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vitiral
commented
Aug 11, 2023
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| ### Reusable Queries | ||
| Queries can be introduced into a Malloy model and accessed by name. One benefit is that the | ||
| queries are always accurate. Think of a Malloy model as a data function library. |
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I'm not sure what One benefit is that the queries are always accurate means but it is neither clear nor can it possibly be accurate 😄
I wish I could have a programming language who's queries are always accurate but then most Data Scientists would probably be out of a job!
src/documentation/about/tao.malloynb
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| @@ -11,16 +11,16 @@ Our primary users will all be familiar with SQL. We should make their life no ha | |||
| For example `name is expression`, vs `expression as name`. In SQL the naming on an expression sits as a casual afterthought "oh by the way, give this really important expression a name". In Malloy, the name of a thing is important, you are building complex things from smaller pieces. When you look at a model, you will often want to scan the file looking for names, they belong on the left hand side. | |||
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| However, we in general try to have the "feel" of SQL. We use `()` for structuring instead of `{}` like LookML or JavaScript do, or indentation like Python does. We use `is` and `define` instead of `:` like LookML or `=` like JavaScript. We use SQL words for things (like `join`) where it makes sense. | |||
| However try to keep to the "feel" of SQL while incorporating useful syntax from other languages. We use `()` for structuring instead of `{}` (LookML/JavaScript), or whitespace/indentation (Python). When a concept or function is particular to query languages we try to fall back to use SQL words (i.e. `join`, `aggregate`) but do not introduce whitespace syntax (i.e. malloy's `group_by` vs SQL's `GROUP BY`) | |||
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Most of this is trying to improve the general "flow" of the sentence.
The last bit regarding "falling back to SQL words" is inferred from what I've seen of the language and should be confirmed by an expert.
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| The intention was always that there is some context, command line or editor, which handles a single document with mixed Malloy and SQL, either because they are one merged language, or there is some JSX-like escaping between the contexts. | ||
| The intention has always been to allow mixing Malloy and SQL in order to enable incremental improvement of already existing SQL; as well as better facilitate the learning process. |
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I felt like the reference to JSX/etc was superfluous. The main point (as I see it) is that you should be able to incrementally improve your SQL code.
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| ### … is still an experiment | ||
| We had some theoretical insights that there was a better way to interact with data than SQL, and Malloy is the current snapshot of that thinking, but we are not done. We have a number of features which are not yet in the language, which we expect to have an impact on the language, and maybe even on these rules. The language is still young and needs room to grow. | ||
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| ### … is an expression of empathy towards explorers and explainers of data | ||
| The Malloy user is not someone who writes one sentence in Malloy, and then never sees the language again. Malloy is an invitation into a "way" for people who are passionate about decision making based on data, and good decision making is iterative, and ongoing. | ||
| The Malloy user is not someone who writes one sentence in Malloy, and then never sees the language again. Malloy is an invitation into a "way" (or "Tao") for people who are passionate about decision making based on data; and good decision making is iterative and ongoing. |
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"The Tao" literally translated can mean "The way" so there is a pun here that feels like a good way to end a document titled "Tao"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao
[Tao] means a road, path, way;
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A lot of this is small grammar fixes, a few changes are slightly larger (but always local) changes to the intent. I've marked the latter with comments to open discussion.