Philosophy | QAIL

The Problem with SQL

SQL is vertical, verbose, and clunky inside modern codebases. It interrupts your flow. When you are writing concise Rust or JavaScript, suddenly dropping into a 10-line SQL block feels like hitting a wall.

The QAIL Solution

QAIL is horizontal, dense, and composable. It treats database queries like a pipeline, using symbols to hook data and pull it into your application.

                        The Old Way
                        SELECT id, email, role FROM users WHERE active = true LIMIT 1;
                    

                        The QAIL Way
                        get::users•@id@email@role[active=true][lim=1]
                    

The 3 Core Principles

Constraint: Vertical space is precious. QAIL flows with your logic, not against it.
Density: Symbols (`@`, `•`, `[]`) convey more information per pixel than keywords.
The Star Rule: If you need 50 columns, fetch the struct (`@*`). If you need 3, list them. Listing 20 columns manually is an anti-pattern.

The Vertical Escape Hatch

Is it still Horizontal? Yes.

Horizontal is the Identity. Vertical is the Layout.

We provide a "Vertical Escape Hatch" (tabs/newlines) so you can organize complex logic however you see fit, without fighting the parser. But the language itself remains symbol-driven and concise.

qail!(r#"
    get::users->bookings•@*
    [created_at>='2024-01-01']
    [email_verified=true]
    [bookings.campaign_code~$1]
    [^!created_at]
    [lim=50]
"#)

This allows you to handle complexity without abandoning the core philosophy.