octosql-plugin-random_data VS steampipe

Hey!

> I think the main fundamental difference is that this wants all of the data upfront in a data file.

Absolutely not! Moreover, OctoSQL can push down predicates to databases so that it only has to download a small subset of the table, if the datasource and query allow it.

> Very easy to model HTTP APIs as a table.

"Very easy" is relative, but you can take a look at the random_data[0] datasource which is exactly this. I'm also planning to add a GitHub datasource fairly soon. That said, there is Steampipe[1] for which this is the main use case afaik (hitting API's and exposing them as tables through Postgres FWD's written in Go), so it might be a smoother and more polished experience. There's also tons of plugins already available for it.

> Easy to model basically anything as a table for example files on my filesystem.

Yep, definitely. That's the idea behind OctoSQL. Strive to create a tool for easily exposing anything through SQL (like your machine's processes list, an API, and join that with a file, or database). There's still lot's of documentation work left to do though, in order to make the plugin authoring experience easier.

> A decent query planner so that I can avoid expensive things (like API calls) if I can determine if I need the object based on something cheaper (like a local disk access).

Probably depends on the use-case, and it sometimes needs you to be fairly explicit, but OctoSQL does in fact do that. It will push down predicates to underlying databases, which means joining something small with something very big (while only taking very small amounts of the latter) can be very fast with LOOKUP JOIN's.

> I want something that is easy to extend to sources that are possibly non-listable or at the very least I don't want to have all of the data available.

Doable. An example of this is the `plugins.available_versions` table[2]. It requires you to provide the plugin name as a predicate, as the versions need to be downloaded from the plugin's own repository (and listing all plugin repositories on each query isn't really what you want to be doing). You can also LOOKUP JOIN with the `plugins.available_plugins` table if that is indeed what you want.

[0]: https://github.com/cube2222/octosql-plugin-random_data

[1]: https://steampipe.io

[2]: https://github.com/cube2222/octosql/blob/main/datasources/pl...

Steampipe is a tool for querying cloud APIs and other data sources using SQL in a zero-ETL manner.

Readers may also enjoy Steampipe [1], an open source CLI to live query Google Sheets [2] and 140+ other services with SQL (e.g. AWS, GitHub, etc). It uses Postgres Foreign Data Wrappers under the hood and supports joins etc across the services. (Disclaimer - I'm a lead on the project.)

1 - https://github.com/turbot/steampipe

be mindful of its AGPLv3 https://github.com/turbot/steampipe/blob/v0.21.8/LICENSE (AFAIK v0.4.3 is the last MIT release https://github.com/turbot/steampipe/blob/v0.4.3/LICENSE ) and the actual providers are Apache 2 <https://github.com/turbot/steampipe-plugin-aws/blob/v0.131.0...> (but I don't know if provider drift makes them compatible with 0.4 or not)

iasql seems to be AWS only, but good for them for taking this on:

In a prior post I showed how to install Steampipe in AWS CloudShell to instantly query over 460+ resource types from your AWS APIs using SQL, and another post on how to use the Steampipe AWS Compliance mod to assess over 25+ security benchmarks across your AWS accounts.

Readers may find Steampipe's [1] AWS Thrifty Mod [2] useful. It will automatically scan multiple accounts and regions for 50 cost saving opportunities - many of which are looking for over-provisioned or unused resources. For example, it's crazy how much you can save by doing things like just converting your EBS volumes to the newer gp3 type. Combine with Flowpipe [3] to automate checks and actions. It's all open source and extensible.

1 - https://github.com/turbot/steampipe

Steampipe [1] is an open source project [2] that includes an embedded Postgres to instantly query cloud, code & more with SQL. This release expands our plugin ecosystem [3] to be a full Zero-ETL platform. Steampipe plugins can now run natively in your own Postgres as Foreign Data Wrappers [4], as SQLite extensions [5] or as simple data export tools [6]. Please give it a try, we'd love your feedback and contributions!

1 - https://steampipe.io