Re: Idea: Avoid JOINs by using path expressions to follow FKs

Hi,

The database Neo4j has a language called "Cypher" where one of the key selling points is they "don’t need join tables".

Here is an example from https://neo4j.com/developer/cypher/guide-sql-to-cypher/

SQL:

SELECT DISTINCT c.company_name

FROM customers AS c

JOIN orders AS o ON c.customer_id = o.customer_id

JOIN order_details AS od ON o.order_id = od.order_id

JOIN products AS p ON od.product_id = p.product_id

WHERE p.product_name = 'Chocolade';

Neo4j's Cypher:

MATCH (p:product {product_name:"Chocolade"})<-[:PRODUCT]-(:order)<-[:PURCHASED]-(c:customer)

RETURN distinct c.company_name;

Imagine if we could simply write the SQL query like this:

SELECT DISTINCT od.order_id.customer_id.company_name

FROM order_details AS od

WHERE od.product_id.product_name = 'Chocolade';