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SimpleDB Select support in LightSpeed

When we first shipped SimpleDB support in LightSpeed, the only available query interface to SimpleDB used the Query APIs and Amazon’s own query expression syntax (technically known as “Amazon’s crazy-ass query language”).

Needless to say, about ten minutes after we shipped, Amazon announced a new Select API with a simpler, more expressive and almost SQL-like expression syntax, and decreed that henceforth this was the preferred query interface and that this was where all the new cool toys would be turning up and that anyone who continued to use Query and ACAQL was a Commie mutant traitor and would be tracked down and “deprecated.”

We immediately sprang into action and decided to put off supporting Select until it had enough cool toys to make it worthwhile. And I’m pleased to announce that the day has finally come. Okay, most people wouldn’t consider the IS NULL operator a particularly cool toy, but trust me, when you’re doing database programming, you take what pleasures you can get. (Actually, IS NULL is cool, because it means you can use the LightSpeed soft delete feature over SimpleDB. See? This isn’t just internal technical noodling after all.)

So from the 21 August nightly, LightSpeed will have experimental support for the Select API, and will use the Select API by default. Since this support is experimental, we’ve provided an option to revert back to the Query API if it all goes pear-shaped or if you’d rather wait for Service Pack 1: just add “API=Query;” to the SimpleDB connection string.

You’ll be able to download Select support from about 1430 GMT — Express edition from here, retail editions from the store. As always, please let us know about any bugs or issues you run into.