I can see it now. Everybody will say how the following bit of Java code that Shawn C. has sent in isn't actually a WTF and is, in fact, quite brilliant.
To a point, I agree - the code works, and leaves the door open for accomodating changes to the structure of the SQL queries themselves. Especially if, some day, in a far flung future when, from out of space, a runaway planet comes hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction casting civilization into ruin, forcing mankind to re-invent the standard keywords used to retrieve information from databases.
This, dear readers, is what I would consider planning for the future, or at least one of them.
public class DBQueryString { protected String mstrSelect; protected String mstrTable; protected String mstrWhere; protected String mstrOrder; public static final String SELECT = "select "; public static final String INSERT = "insert into "; public static final String UPDATE = "update "; public static final String DELETE = "delete "; public static final String SET = " set "; public static final String FROM = " from "; public static final String WHERE = " where "; public static final String AND = " and "; public static final String VALUES = " values "; public static final String ORDER = " order by "; [other code snipped] public String buildQuery() { String strQuery = ""; strQuery = SELECT + this.mstrSelect; strQuery = strQuery + FROM + this.mstrTable; if (this.mstrWhere != null) { strQuery = strQuery + WHERE + this.mstrWhere; } if (this.mstrOrder != null) { strQuery = strQuery + ORDER + this.mstrOrder; } LoggingSystem.getLogger().inform(3, strQuery); return strQuery; } }