Is the q query language needed to use kdb+?
A basic knowledge of q is needed to set up and administer a kdb+ database. Our experience is that most developers find q easy to learn and incredibly productive – even those whose prior experience is solely with traditional programming languages. Since q includes a SQL-like subset, it is very familiar to database programmers, who can be up and running within days. The query language allows powerful ad hoc queries on-the-fly. This is important as financial services firms are being faced with a huge number of ad hoc reporting requirements from the regulatory authorities, and this is putting significant pressure on their data infrastructures. Also, while end users may access kdb+ from a GUI, and know nothing of the database back end, in practice, many actually prefer to work directly with q in a kdb+ session, making use of the ability to write their own custom queries.
