RethinkDB

Most query languages are unpleasant, especially for beginners. At RethinkDB we're trying to write one that isn't. We've ended up implementing it as a Domain Specific Language for Ruby, and this talk is about what we've learned along the way. What makes a query
language good? What makes a DSL good? What parts of Ruby make it easy, and what parts make it hard? What should you watch out for if you want to write a DSL of your own?

• Why we settled on a DSL instead of a string-based query language.

• Error reporting and making syntax discoverable.

• Classic DSL problems: variable capture, namespace pollution, having to learn a new syntax.

• Ruby-specific problems: Can't overload operators based on the righthand side, can't overload some key operators, no `parameters` call on Procs in Ruby 1.8.

• Things Ruby provides that are really nice: `caller`, block syntax, etc.

Michael Lucy Bio:
Michael Lucy is an engineer at RethinkDB working on the query language.