sqlfmt▍
sqlfmt blog
Practical posts on writing cleaner SQL and fixing the errors your database gives back.
SQL Formatting
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
Multi-row INSERT alignment, UPDATE SET clause style, DELETE WHERE formatting, and ON CONFLICT/MERGE upsert syntax across five SQL dialects, with examples.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
SQLite vs PostgreSQL syntax differences that break migrations: dynamic typing, AUTOINCREMENT vs SERIAL/IDENTITY, JOIN support, dates, and ALTER TABLE.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
BigQuery SQL differs from Postgres and SQL Server in quoting, types, keys, and cost. Here is the syntax map you need before porting your first query.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
Reserved words like ORDER, GROUP, and USER silently break SQL queries used as column names. See which words are reserved per dialect and how to quote them.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
Formatting SQL stored procedures means aligning parameters, indenting BEGIN/END blocks, and handling PL/pgSQL, T-SQL, and MySQL control flow correctly.
Read postEngineering Workflow
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
A practical SQL code review checklist for pull requests: naming, missing indexes, transaction safety, backward-compatible migrations, and injection risk.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
UNION and UNION ALL combine query results, but mismatched columns fail silently, not loudly. Here's how to align, parenthesize, and order them for readable SQL.
Read postEngineering Workflow
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
SQL linting in CI catches syntax errors, keyword typos, and style drift before merge. Here's what it can catch, what it can't, and how to set it up.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
SQL Server vs PostgreSQL syntax differences: TOP vs LIMIT, IDENTITY vs SERIAL, + vs || concatenation, GETDATE() vs NOW(), and more, with side-by-side SQL.
Read postSQL Errors
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jul 13, 2026
A SQL "ambiguous column name" error means a JOIN produced same-named columns and your query didn't say which one it meant. Here's the fix, dialect by dialect.
Read postSQL Formatting
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 25, 2026
CTE vs subquery comes down to readability, reuse, and recursion. Here's when each one wins, plus the PostgreSQL optimization-fence gotcha you should know.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 25, 2026
The MySQL vs PostgreSQL syntax differences that break migrations: auto-increment, quoting, string concat, upserts, and NULL functions — with side-by-side SQL.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 25, 2026
Single quotes are for string values, double quotes are for identifiers — but MySQL, SQL Server, and BigQuery bend the rule. The full guide, with examples.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 25, 2026
Window functions cram PARTITION BY, ORDER BY, and frames into one OVER clause. Here's how to format SQL window functions so the logic reads at a glance.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 25, 2026
PostgreSQL's "column must appear in the GROUP BY clause" error (42803) fires when a SELECT column isn't grouped or aggregated. Three fixes, with examples.
Read postSQL Formatting
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 21, 2026
SQL CTEs turn into a wall of text fast. Here's how to format WITH clauses, multi-CTE chains, and recursive CTEs so the structure reads at a glance.
Read postSQL Formatting
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 15, 2026
Multi-join queries turn into walls of text fast. Here's how to format JOINs, ON conditions, and join chains so the query structure reads at a glance.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 15, 2026
SQL CASE statements get messy fast. Here's how to format simple, multi-branch, and nested CASE WHEN expressions to stay readable as logic grows.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 15, 2026
BigQuery syntax errors point past the real mistake. Here are 7 common causes—wrong clause order, reserved words, Legacy SQL—with runnable fixes.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
Eight SQL formatting best practices — keyword casing, comma style, explicit JOINs, CTE usage, and keyword typo checking — with before-and-after examples.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
SELEC, FORM, WHER — SQL keyword typos produce confusing parser errors. Here are the most common SQL misspellings and the fastest ways to catch them.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
Leading comma style in SQL places commas before each column, not after. Here's the case for and against it, and how to enforce it consistently.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
SQL Server's "Incorrect syntax near" error means the T-SQL parser hit an unexpected token. Here are 7 common causes and how to fix each one.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
Should SQL keywords be uppercase or lowercase? We compare major style guides, tool defaults, and team conventions to give you a clear, defensible answer.
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By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
SQLite's 'near X: syntax error' points just past the real mistake. Here are 7 common causes—reserved words, quote confusion, version gaps—with fixes.
Read postSQL Errors
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 14, 2026
SQL's = NULL comparison always returns unknown, never true. Learn why NULL requires IS NULL, how three-valued logic works, and how to fix common NULL bugs.
Read postSQL Errors
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 13, 2026
"You have an error in your SQL syntax" (MySQL error 1064) means the parser hit an unexpected token. Here are the 7 common causes and how to fix each.
Read postSQL Errors
By Sharon Ben-Moshe · Jun 12, 2026
PostgreSQL's "syntax error at or near" means the parser hit a token it can't place — usually just after the real mistake. The six causes, with fixes.
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