My Problem With The Relational Database

I build modern applications using modern tools, but I have to put an inordinate amount of effort into what is essentially screen scraping an interface from the 70's.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater though. The RDBMS is built on a solid foundation: relational theory. It's interface needs an upgrade to play nicely with modern tools. SQL is not that interface. But I'm not sure what is.