From: ldo@nz.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 14:07:31 -0400, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
      
   > Embedded SQL is a thing or was a thing 30-40-50 years ago.   
   >   
   > Basically you write source code with SQL statements prefixed by EXEC   
   > SQL, put it through a pre-compiler to get valid code in whatever   
   > language (Cobol, PL/I, C or whatever).   
      
   OK, so it was a horrible nonstandard hack invented for programming   
   languages like COBOL, which didn’t have the best ability to deal with   
   dynamic strings, to make it easier for them to compose SQL statements.   
      
   And the horribleness of it is reinforced by your statement that you need   
   server-side cursors in the DBMS to make this hack a little less difficult   
   to work with.   
      
   Not sure why it would be needed for PL/I, or even C.   
      
   I’ve pointed out before, the irony of COBOL being designed strictly for   
   “business” needs, yet within a couple of decades of its widespread   
   adoption, SQL databases became an important “business” need, but the best   
   way of interfacing to them (using dynamic string manipulation mechanisms)   
   had been omitted from COBOL because it wasn’t seen as a “business” need.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)