# Why does ES have this cryptic query language?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-es-have-this-cryptic-query-language/139009>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [July 7, 2018, 9:41am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-es-have-this-cryptic-query-language/139009 "2018-07-07T09:41:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nuketro0p3r](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nuketro0p3r/32/32584_2.png) [@nuketro0p3r](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nuketro0p3r)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 9:41am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-es-have-this-cryptic-query-language/139009/1 "2018-07-07T09:41:54Z")

</div>

As a beginner with ES the most amount of time I've wasted is in learning this cryptic JSON based query language. I really don't find it intuitive at all (like SQL for example). I also see other people making the same mistakes as me...

So this got me wondering, why was this design choice made for ES? Are there specific queries which are not supported by other query languages?

Looking forward to interesting insights 🙂

Merci

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 10:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-es-have-this-cryptic-query-language/139009/2 "2018-07-07T10:12:50Z")

</div>

SQL is limited when it comes to full text search IMO.

Anyway, good news for you, from 6.3.0 you have now a SQL endpoint available.

See [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.3/xpack-sql.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.3/xpack-sql.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 10:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/why-does-es-have-this-cryptic-query-language/139009/3 "2018-08-04T10:12:52Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.