SQL Is a Declarative Language
SQL is a declarative language, meaning you specify the data you want, rather than how to retrieve it (although there are hints and other means of influence). In contrast, an imperative language like Python (which isn’t purely imperative) focuses on the steps necessary to achieve results.
With declarative languages, it's similar to ordering food at a restaurant: you ask the chef (or more likely the server) for the dish you want, but you don't tell them the steps to prepare it unless you're that kind of person.
Providing guidance, such as cooking the steak medium, adding garlic butter, or omitting onions, is like using filters that refine your order to exactly what you want, similar to predicates in a WHERE clause that filter rows based on specific criteria.
