Thank you for your thoughtful reply. The extension system makes great sense.
But it's also stuff like `"SELECT * FROM my_df"` – It's super cool but why is my database connecting to an in-memory pandas data frame? On the other hand, DuckDB can connect to remote Parquet files and interact with them without (explicitly) importing them.
In these examples, DuckDB feels more like an ephemeral SQL-esque Pandas/Polars alternative rather than a database.
Probably it's just me losing track of what a database is and we've evolved from "a monolithic and permanent thing that you store data on and read data from via queries".
i think "SELECT * FROM my_df" is a convenience from the python module and how tightly integrated it is, but i can’t get this to replicate using the cli or dbeaver or datagrip.
and yes, being able to layer analytical sql on top of your csv/json/parquet/gpx/arrow (but not xml?) is the massive appeal of duckdb for a variety of reasons. it’s a paradigm shift for me as an old timer but it’s also suited my needs quite well over the past few years