command-line-rust VS TablaM

You absolutely must write programs, preferably using tests to ensure you are creating correct and reproducible code. May I suggest starting with my book, Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022). All the code/data/tests are in https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust Note that there are branches showing how to use the 4.x version of clap (command-line argument parser) rather than the 2.33 that was current when the book was published.

I think the best way to start learning a programming language is to write lots of small programs that you probably already know. Rust is a perfect command-line language, so I think it makes sense to start by implementing simple programs like "head" and "grep." I also think one should always learn to write and run tests, so I present my GitHub repo of inputs and tests you might like to use to write 14 such standard Unix command-line utilities: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust If you want guidance on the language, I wrote a book called Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) that explains all this code. One caveat is that the "clap" (command-line argument parser) module was at 2.33 when I published but is now v4, so you should look at the appropriate branches for versions of the programs that use the "builder" and "derive" patterns for that module. Or just use any old command-line parser you like as there's no requirement to use "clap." Best of luck to you!

You must write programs in a language in order to learn it. I also firmly believe that learning how to write and run tests is critical to learning any language. I wrote Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) for the beginner (in Rust, at least) and with a focus on writing and testing small programs from very simple "Hello, world!" and getting increasingly more complex. You can look at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust for the code/inputs/tests. Best of luck!

Code for the above book

I'm the author of Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022), which I wrote to introduce the language slowly to beginners by writing and testing short, focused programs. You can look over the code/tests/data at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust. Note that there are branches that show the same programs using a more recent version of the "clap" crate.

I wrote Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) to guide beginners in the language. You are challenged to write small functions and programs using tests to verify that everything is correct. You can look over the code and tests at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust. Best of luck in your journey!

Here are the example programs from my book, Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022), along with the input files and tests: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust

I like to suggest that students write programs they already know (or at least understand). For instance, you probably understand that head shows the first few lines of a text file, and you probably can already implement some version of that in one or two languages you know. Try that in Rust. I wrote 14 BSD/GNU command-line utilities in Rust for learning purposes. I wouldn't consider these high-performance/production programs as they are tailored to learning the language. I also stress how to test programs, so there are tests and inputs you can use to verify your programs match the output of the original programs (or you can modify these to suit your own tastes for how you would like them to work). https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust

Here are some more examples you may or may not find useful: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust I tend to have a main() that calls a library's run() function that returns a Result and then exit with a nonzero code and error message on a failure.

> Very curious if anyone knows how to pull this off.

I work in this space (small/mid-size).

The good news is that there are several "obvious" ways to pull this off because an ERP is the culmination of everything a company needs and does. So almost anything you can imagine on the software is part of it.

The bad news, and the reason everyone wants a solution, is that is truly a big space, and then you need E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

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My take is to start from the bottom, and build a much better version of Access/FoxPro (https://tablam.org).

Any medium/big ERP end being a specialized computing platform that needs:

- A programming language

- A database engine

- An orchestration engine

- ELT engine

- Auth

- UI/Report builders

And to be clear: NONE of the "programming language", "database engine", etc are a good fit today.

NONE.

This is the big thing, This is the reason (from a tech POW only) that most attempts fail.

This is the secret of why Cobol rule(d): Is all of this! but is too old! (also, this is why SQL still is best: Is almost this).

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So, to pull this off, you need a team that knows what is "missing" from our current tools, makes a well-integrated package, and adds a "user-friendly" interface in a way that is palatable for the kind of user that uses excel (powerfully).

Is not that impossible. FoxPro was the best example of this kind of integrated solution.

P.D: This is my life's dream, to make this truth!

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS: TablaM relational language (https://tablam.org)

TablaM is an in-progress programming language to provide a more ergonomic experience for building data-oriented applications.

This means that where most languages are focused on low-level details or engineering at large, TablaM is tailored with some small & big design decisions to make it enjoyable to write applications for e-commerce, finance, ERPs, and similar.

Cool things:

- TablaM marry the array + relational models. It means we should get very little need for manual loops and all the ops are vectorized.

Yeah, I worked on https://tablam.org and https://spacetimedb.com.

It becomes pretty clear that `order` is a significant property to make useful (and performant!) programs. "Duplicates" is also required to make usefull programs.

One nonobvious reason for this: You wanna report that a `customer` has a duplicated key `1`. If you CAN'T model `[(customer.id = 1), (customer.id = 1)]` then you can't report errors! And `erroneous` data is VITAL to make useful programs because then the only possibility is "perfect" data, and that is not possible!

Another reason is that we want to `count` duplicates, to see `duplicates`, and other NON-obvious at first: "What is a duplicate?". Get fun with floats, Unicode, combining case and non-case sensitive input... and is obvious that for useful programs IS REQUIRED to support bags in an extended version of the relational model.

And yet...

IS very important to remember about `set semantics` and try to adhere to it when makes sense. Your query planner will like it. You "valid" constraints like it. And `unique index` like it. And so on...

Finally, for app development, I will "suggest" everyone use my lang https://tablam.org!

This is moe interesting than it looks, probably because the best part (IMHO) is about the type system, that is what enables the other ideas.

> In Julia, types are first-class and every value has a type

This is what I do from the start in https://tablam.org and only later found that is not common! Is so intuitive this way and simpler to check, by a lot. In fact, I waste so much time adapting type inference algorithms that are hard to translate because for some reason graphs are imposed on trees, types are second-class and live at a distance (and erased) and all is a mess this way.

The relational model already makes this so simple: `project / rename / extend` relational operators cover you.

From this other facilities become possible. Note how in `SQL` you don't have functions as first-class per se, but now try to imagine that a function is a table and suddenly, is much better!

My relational lang (https://tablam.org) that I wish to be a Excel + Access replacement is still half-backed.

I move it slowly in my personal computer but not much in public. Maybe adding another person will help me on that!

> what is a good alternative to Access (or Fox, I add)

Nothing.

Access is(was) in fact a worse alternative to Fox:

- Much worse DB engine, and that is saying a lot (FoxPro db can and get corrupted. A typical functionality that was added to any fox codebase was a utility to fix it)

- MUCH MUCH worse programming language (VB) that is neither good as-is, much less as a data-programing language.

Fox/dbase is the only data-oriented language that was relatively popular and fit for the use-case.

This is by a mile the main point: Is a desert looking for languages that are made for business app/data oriented programing (and much harder looking for something not weird).

The main options: Fox/dBase/Informix(? not remember), kdb+, Cobol, SQL(when extended as store procedure lang with loops and that)

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This point is big. Having a good form builder (that is already rare) is not enough to be a real contender for this space. You need a language where making queries is truly nice.

In short, you need a language that is `LINQ/Relational` as first-class end-to-end.

- If this lang needs an ORM: FAIL.

- If this lang needs to compose strings to make a query: FAIL.

- If exist "impedance mismatch" between data manipulation/queries and the rest of the lang: FAIL.

- It should also support super-advanced types like date, decimal, currency and ideally dimensional units. Ideally algebraic types as today.

- It should have a version of Rust `serve, Into/From` for easy conversion between data + formats.

- It should look "normal" like python/swift with `LINQ` queries.

This is the lang I trying to build: https://tablam.org

> I asked was about querying data without ever using a SQL language, like tapping directly into the data.

I agree (making https://tablam.org to try a fix & working on https://github.com/clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB in the SQL conformance).

Before I think SQL was bad. *Now I'm certain*. SQL is absurdly massive for things that could have collapse all the features 10x or more.

However, working in an RDBM now I also understand why is not desirable to make "raw" calls to the DB: The engine MUST mediate all the calls to make things works (from query optimization, execution, iteration, lock management, transaction management, etc).

Is incredible how much sophistication is in a simple `SELECT * FROM table`.

What I wish is to build a `Wasm-like` IR so that is what anybody target, and `SQL` is not the mediator.

In my case each lang I have learned (+12) I start coding a mini-ORM. I have done the same so many times, and that is a good way to learn from me. Also, I have to learn Rust building https://tablam.org.

It sounds puzzling, I start learning Rust with https://tablam.org and probably was making my life harder trying to do "advanced" stuff when not have any idea of what I was doing.