SQL is also a big constant of my programming career, I know it can do everything I need, but sometimes it is frustrating how its limitations make some simple things complicated.
For example, one of the biggest gripes I have with SQL is the fact that the table is the only output format, it doesn't allow outputting data with different cardinalities in a single query. The internal relational model of a RDBMS is extremely rich and powerful, but when extracting that data using SQL you have to leave all the richness behind and flatten the data into a simple dumb table. So as result we have to do much back and forth with separate queries based on results of previous ones (or even ugly hacks like concatenate higher cardinality data into a single field to then re-separate it in the application). A suitable successor for SQL should have a way to output a subset of the relational model with the relational part intact.
I'm not sure a successor to SQL is even necessary, rather there would be benefit to some higher level interfaces provided by the RDMBS that compliment SQL to cut down on the egregious application boilerplate that becomes necessary to achieve common tasks using SQL directly.
SQL is essentially the assembly language of the database. That makes it very powerful, but sometimes you just want a language that gives you a "garbage collector" for free, while still being able to drop down to assembly when you need additional power.
There is no technical reason why an RDBMS can't support different modes for accessing data. We are just so used to putting that work into the application that it has become a hard sell to want to move it to the right place.
> For example, one of the biggest gripes I have with SQL is the fact that the table is the only output format, it doesn't allow outputting data with different cardinalities in a single query.
With MSSQL at least you can return multiple result sets. Not sure about other database vendors.
For example, one of the biggest gripes I have with SQL is the fact that the table is the only output format, it doesn't allow outputting data with different cardinalities in a single query. The internal relational model of a RDBMS is extremely rich and powerful, but when extracting that data using SQL you have to leave all the richness behind and flatten the data into a simple dumb table. So as result we have to do much back and forth with separate queries based on results of previous ones (or even ugly hacks like concatenate higher cardinality data into a single field to then re-separate it in the application). A suitable successor for SQL should have a way to output a subset of the relational model with the relational part intact.