More than query: Morel, SQL and the evolution of data languages

What is the difference between a query language and a general-purpose programming language? Can SQL be extended to support streaming, incremental computation, data engineering, and general-purpose programming? How well does SQL fit into a modern software engineering workflow, with Git-based version control, CI, refactoring, and AI-assisted coding?

These are all questions that drove the creation of Morel. Morel is a new functional programming language that embeds relational algebra, so it is as powerful as SQL. Morel's compiler, like that of any good SQL planner, generates scalable distributed programs, including federated SQL. But unlike SQL, Morel is Turing-complete, which means that you can solve the whole problem without leaving Morel.

This session will discuss the challenges and opportunities of query languages, especially for streaming and data engineering tasks, and provide a gentle introduction to the Morel language. It is presented by Morel's creator, Julian Hyde, who created Apache Calcite and also pioneered streaming SQL.