SQL is one of the most well established, and powerful languages for working with data. It first emerged in the 1970s as a powerful domain-specific language (DSL) for managing data in relational database management systems (RDBMS), and has become one of the longest lasting standards in our industry.

Ascend is no stranger to SQL. In fact, we chose SQL as the first language to support given its broad adoption and even more importantly, declarative nature that enables declarative data pipelines. This declarative nature not only makes life easier for developers, but also makes it possible for Ascend to parse user code, build a deep understanding of it, and leverage that understanding for features in Ascend Run like dynamic partitioning, and Ascend Govern like lineage tracking.

Building a deep understanding of these functions can be hard, but we’re committed to making the entire SparkSQL set of functions available to our users.

To that end, we’re announcing the addition of 75 new SQL functions that are now available in every customer environment by default. This includes powerful new functions like BOOL_AND, COUNT_IF, FIND_IN_SET, MAX_BY, WEEKDAY, and well, 70 more!!!

Unsure what functions are available to you or how they work? Ascend’s built in code editor provides auto-complete and suggestions, while we also provide a complete reference for all supported SQL Functions on our developer portal.

Ready to start using these new functions? Sign up for a free trial and start building! Want to learn more about these functions and our other features? Schedule a live demo with one of our data engineers. Have a favorite function you’d like to see us add support for? Join us in Slack and let us know — we’d love to hear from you!