"At the same time, I have to say too that we didn’t realize how truly awful SQL was or would turn out to be (note that it’s much worse now than it was then, though it was pretty bad right from the outset)."
As an example of a language that does it better, I think kusto-query-language (KQL, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-explorer/kusto/...) has been a dream to work with. (disclaimer, Kusto is a Microsoft product, and I'm a Microsoft employee).
I hate it, but there's little point in complaining because it's so ubiquitous.
More robust criticism is provided here (https://carlineng.com/?postid=sql-critique#blog), which pulls on an interview here (https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/opinion/opinion-pieces/...) The quote I usually drag out is from Chris Date, who helped pioneer relational DBs:
"At the same time, I have to say too that we didn’t realize how truly awful SQL was or would turn out to be (note that it’s much worse now than it was then, though it was pretty bad right from the outset)."
As an example of a language that does it better, I think kusto-query-language (KQL, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-explorer/kusto/...) has been a dream to work with. (disclaimer, Kusto is a Microsoft product, and I'm a Microsoft employee).