UniversQL

A universal query language for databases. Impatient? See examples.

Important

This concept is in idea phase. If you're interested in working on it, please visit this issue or send me a tweet @brandonjcarl.

Next steps include: specification formalization and grammar construction.

Introduction

Just as REST standardized APIs, and XML/JSON standardized data transfer, the recent proliferation of databases could use some standardization of queries.

Most queries perform the same basic tasks: reads, writes, updates and deletes. Yet each new NoSQL technology is accompanied by its own query language. While this adds power, it also increases complexity. UniversQL intends to provide a universal grammar (instruction set) that can subsequently be adapted to different technologies and architectures.

This is not intended to replace individual query languages. As always, some queries will require database-specific query expertise. However, in the spirit of the Pareto Principle, a little can go a long way. Furthermore, rather than expecting each user to understand the nuances of a given query language, we can focus on creating UniversQL-to-database transpilers/adapters that automatically embody best practices.

A simple parsing expression grammar file is included in this repository, which is currently very incomplete. After all, the language isn't yet fully specified! Eventually this will serve as a starting point to create language-specific parsers. For an example implementation, please visit https://github.com/brandoncarl/universql-js.

Examples

For more extensive examples, please visit our Reference Page.

Read

# UniversQL
albums{name,year}[sort=-year,limit=2]?artist="Taylor*"

# SQL
SELECT name, year FROM albums WHERE artist LIKE 'Taylor*' ORDER BY year DESC LIMIT 2;

# MongoDB
db.albums.find({ artist: { $regex: /^Taylor/ } }, { name : 1, year : 1 }).sort({ year : -1 }).limit(2);

# RethinkDB
r.table('albums').filter(r.row('artist').match('Taylor.*')).withFields("name", "year").orderBy(r.desc('year')).limit(2);

Create

# UniversQL
+albums{name:'1989',artist:'Taylor Swift',year:2015}

# SQL
INSERT INTO albums (name, artist, year) VALUES ('1989', 'Taylor Swift', 2015);

# MongoDB
db.albums.save({ name : '1989', artist : 'Taylor Swift', year : 2015 })

# RethinkDB
r.table('albums').insert([{ name : '1989', artist : 'Taylor Swift', year : 2015 }]);

# CouchDB
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5984/db/ -d "{ _type : 'album', name : '1989', artist : 'Taylor Swift', year : 2015 }" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Update

# UniversQL
^albums{producer:'Max Martin'}?name='1989'

# SQL
UPDATE albums SET producer = 'Max Martin' WHERE name = '1989';

# MongoDB
db.albums.update({ name : '1989' }, { $set : { producer : 'Max Martin' } });

# RethinkDB
r.table('artists').filter(r.row('name').eq(1989)).update({ producer : 'Max Martin'})

# CouchDB
# !!! Need to do a query first (and perhaps create a view)
curl -X PUT http://127.0.0.1:5984/db/ -d "{ _id : id, _rev : rev, producer : 'Max Martin' }" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Delete

# UniversQL
-albums{name:'1989'}

# SQL
DELETE FROM albums WHERE name = '1989';

# MongoDB
db.albums.remove({ name : '1989' });

# RethinkDB
r.table('artists').filter(r.row('name').eq(1989)).delete()

# CouchDB
# !!! Need to do a query first (and perhaps create a view)
curl -X DEL http://127.0.0.1:5984/db/ -d "{ _id : id, _rev : rev }" -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Again, for more extensive examples, please visit our Reference Page.

brandoncarl / universql