Semantic SQL: Bridging Data and Business Understanding

Semantic SQL represents the evolution of data querying and analysis, bridging the gap between raw data structures and business-friendly concepts. It emerged from the need to make complex data more accessible and understandable to business users without requiring deep technical knowledge of database structures or SQL syntax.

A layer of abstraction that translates business terms and metrics into underlying SQL queries. Complex business metrics at query time. Empower through abstraction, flexibility, and business-user empowerment.

At its core, Semantic SQL is a layer of abstraction that translates business terms and metrics into underlying SQL queries. Its concept has roots in early Business Intelligence (BI) tools like SAP BusinessObjects Universe, which introduced a semantic layer in 1991. Over time, it has evolved through various incarnations such as:

• Business Intelligence Dashboards
• Semantic Layer
• Modern OLAP Systems
• Data Virtualization and Data Federation

The key feature of Semantic SQL is its ability to define and calculate complex business metrics at query time. Instead of writing complex SQL queries, users can work with predefined business concepts, measures, and dimensions. For example, rather than joining multiple tables and applying complex aggregations, a user might simply request “monthly active users” or “weekly revenue by region,” and the semantic layer translates this into the appropriate SQL query.

Modern implementations of Semantic SQL, often referred to as “Headless BI” or “Metric Layers,” extend this concept further. They provide declarative ways to define metrics, often using YAML or similar formats, and offer multiple interfaces (SQL, REST, GraphQL) for accessing these metrics. This approach ensures consistency in metric definitions across various tools and applications, creating a single source of truth for business logic.

The rise of Semantic SQL reflects a broader trend in data engineering and analytics towards abstraction, flexibility, and business-user empowerment. By separating the logical business model from the physical data model, semantic SQL enables faster, more agile analytics while maintaining data governance and consistency. As data ecosystems become more complex and diverse, Semantic SQL’s role in providing a unified, business-friendly interface to data is likely to become increasingly important.

Read a full chapter on this in my DEDP Book - Data Engineering Design Patterns on Business Intelligence, Semantic Layer, Modern OLAP, and Data Virtualization, and on Semantic Models.

• Tobiko - Semantic Understanding of SQL

Origin: Business Intelligence, Semantic Layer, Modern OLAP, Data Virtualization | dedp.online
References: Semantic Business Model / Ontology / Extending SQL for analytics
Created 2024-08-27