Are there any (more suitable) alternatives to SQL?
* I've heard it can run $60k/CPU. It's designed for realtime stock data mining (https://cs1.cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/papers/hpts.pdf), so they get away with it.
I meant to reply to this, didn't notice until after the edit window closed...
http://nsl.com/papers/kisntlisp.htm
This C code helped me get into the headspace. (http://nsl.com/papers/origins.htm)
Chris Date is worth reading for his ideas on what a good language for relational algebra should be like and why SQL isn't that language.