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Why are SQL distributions so non-standard despite an ANSI standard existing for SQL? Are there really that many meaningful differences in the way SQL databases work or is it just the two databases with which I have been working: MS-SQL and PostgreSQL? Why do these differences arise?
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The SQL queries remain the same irrespective of different platforms. Hence, SQL is a platform-independent query language. On the other hand, SQL Server is proprietary software and the same software can not be used for all the platforms. Hence, SQL Server is a platform-dependent RDBMS.
SQL Server DIFFERENCE() FunctionThe DIFFERENCE() function compares two SOUNDEX values, and returns an integer. The integer value indicates the match for the two SOUNDEX values, from 0 to 4. 0 indicates weak or no similarity between the SOUNDEX values. 4 indicates strong similarity or identically SOUNDEX values.
DIFFERENCE compares two different SOUNDEX values, and returns an integer value. This value measures the degree that the SOUNDEX values match, on a scale of 0 to 4. A value of 0 indicates weak or no similarity between the SOUNDEX values; 4 indicates strongly similar, or even identically matching, SOUNDEX values.
Missing indexes, wrong indexes, too many indexes, outdated statistics, or a lack of index maintenance are all common issues for users with little to no experience (what we lovingly call 'accidental DBAs').
The ANSI standard specifies only a limited set of commands and data types. Once you go beyond those, the implementors are on their own. And some very important concepts aren't specified at all, such as auto-incrementing columns. SQLite just picks the first non-null integer, MySQL requires AUTO INCREMENT, PostgreSQL uses sequences, etc. It's a mess, and that's only among the OSS databases! Try getting Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM to collectively decide on a tricky bit of functionality.
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It's a form of "Stealth lock-in". Joel goes into great detail here:
Companies end up tying their business functionality to non-standard or weird unsupported functionality in their implementation, this restricts their ability to move away from their vendor to a competitor.
On the other hand, it's pretty short-sighted because anyone with half a brain will tend to abstract away the proprietary pieces, or avoid the lock-in altogether, if it gets too egregious.
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