🎉 v0.3.0-beta is here! Advanced SQL Features + Production Validation

[kolkov]

🚀 Relica v0.3.0-beta is here! Advanced SQL Features + WrapDB()

Hi everyone! 👋

We're excited to announce Relica v0.3.0-beta – our biggest release yet! This version transforms Relica from a solid query builder into a full-featured SQL powerhouse while keeping what you love: zero dependencies, type safety, and 89.9% test coverage.

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🎯 What's New

This release adds four major feature sets that many of you have been asking for:

1️⃣ Subqueries 🔍

Finally! You can now write complex nested queries with full support for:

• EXISTS/NOT EXISTS - Perfect for existence checks (5x faster than IN!)
• IN/NOT IN with subqueries - Filter by dynamic result sets
• FROM subqueries - Build queries on top of aggregations
• Scalar subqueries - Embed calculations in SELECT

// Find users who have placed orders (EXISTS is 5x faster!)
orderCheck := db.Builder().Select("1").From("orders").Where("orders.user_id = users.id")
db.Builder().Select("*").From("users").Where(relica.Exists(orderCheck)).All(&users)

📚 Full Subquery Guide

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2️⃣ Set Operations 🔀

Combine queries like a pro:

• UNION / UNION ALL - Merge result sets (UNION ALL is 2-3x faster!)
• INTERSECT - Find overlapping data
• EXCEPT - Find differences

// Combine active and archived users
active := db.Builder().Select("name").From("users").Where("status = ?", 1)
archived := db.Builder().Select("name").From("archived_users")
active.UnionAll(archived).All(&allNames)  // 2-3x faster than UNION!

Database support: PostgreSQL 9.1+, MySQL 8.0+, SQLite 3.25+

📚 Full Set Operations Guide

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3️⃣ Common Table Expressions (CTEs) 🌳

Clean up complex queries and handle hierarchical data:

• WITH clause - Reusable query expressions
• WITH RECURSIVE - Organizational hierarchies, category trees, bill of materials

// Build an organizational hierarchy
anchor := db.Builder().
    Select("id", "name", "manager_id", "1 as level").
    From("employees").
    Where("manager_id IS NULL")

recursive := db.Builder().
    Select("e.id", "e.name", "e.manager_id", "h.level + 1").
    From("employees e").
    InnerJoin("hierarchy h", "e.manager_id = h.id")

db.Builder().
    WithRecursive("hierarchy", anchor.UnionAll(recursive)).
    Select("*").
    From("hierarchy").
    OrderBy("level").
    All(&orgChart)

Perfect for: org charts, category trees, graph traversal, BOM (Bill of Materials)

📚 Full CTE Guide

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4️⃣ WrapDB() - Enterprise Integration 🔗

This one's huge! Based on feedback from IrisMX (our first production user with 10K+ concurrent users), we added:

// Your existing connection pool
sqlDB, _ := sql.Open("postgres", dsn)
sqlDB.SetMaxOpenConns(100)
sqlDB.SetMaxIdleConns(50)

// Wrap with Relica - no duplication!
db := relica.WrapDB(sqlDB, "postgres")

// Use all Relica features
db.Builder().Select("*").From("users").Where(...).All(&users)

// You own the lifecycle
defer sqlDB.Close()  // NOT db.Close()

Why this matters:

• ✅ No duplicate connection pools - use your existing infrastructure
• ✅ Gradual migration - add Relica where it adds value
• ✅ Enterprise-ready - integrates with existing database layers
• ✅ Production validated - IrisMX is using this in production NOW

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📊 Performance That Matters

We don't just add features – we measure everything:

What	Result	Why It Matters
EXISTS vs IN	5x faster	Smarter existence checks
UNION ALL vs UNION	2-3x faster	No duplicate removal overhead
N+1 Query Fix	3-18x faster	Single JOIN vs multiple queries
Pagination	100x less memory	LIMIT/OFFSET efficiency

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🧪 Quality You Can Trust

• ✅ 89.9% test coverage (310+ tests - up from 277!)
• ✅ Zero production dependencies (still!)
• ✅ Full multi-database support (PostgreSQL, MySQL 8.0+, SQLite 3.25+)
• ✅ All CI checks passing ✓

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📚 Documentation Overhaul

We wrote 111KB of new documentation (yes, really!):

• Subquery Guide (27KB) - Everything about nested queries
• Set Operations Guide (28KB) - UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT
• CTE Guide (26KB) - WITH clauses and recursive queries
• Window Functions Guide (28KB) - Analytics with RANK(), LAG(), LEAD()

Each guide includes:

• Real-world examples
• Performance tips
• Database compatibility matrices
• Common pitfalls and solutions

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🚀 Get Started

go get github.com/coregx/relica@v0.3.0-beta

Then check out:

• 📖 README - Quick start and examples
• 📋 CHANGELOG - Full details
• 🗺️ ROADMAP - What's next

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🙏 Thank You!

Special shoutout to:

• IrisMX Team 🎯 - Our first production user! Your WrapDB() feature request and real-world validation at 10K+ concurrent users helped shape this release. Thank you for trusting Relica in production!

• Community Contributors 💙 - Your feedback, bug reports, and feature requests drive our roadmap

• Professor Ancha Baranova 🎓 - Your continued support and guidance

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💬 We Want Your Feedback!

This is a beta release – we need your input!

Please tell us:

• 🐛 Found a bug? → Open an issue
• 💡 Feature request? → Start a discussion
• ⭐ Using Relica in production? → We'd love to hear your story!
• 📝 Something unclear? → Documentation feedback welcome

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🎯 What's Next?

We're not stopping here! Here's what's coming:

v0.4.0-beta (Q1 2026) - Production Hardening:

• Query optimizer with auto-index hints
• Query analyzer (EXPLAIN integration)
• Performance tuning toolkit
• Security hardening

v1.0.0 (Q2 2026) - Production Stable:

• API freeze (no more breaking changes!)
• Long-term support commitment
• Performance benchmarks vs GORM/sqlc
• Enterprise support options

See our ROADMAP for details.

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🤔 Why Relica?

If you're new here, you might wonder: "Why another query builder?"

Our philosophy:

"If you want magic, use GORM. If you want control, use Relica."

We believe in:

• ✅ Zero dependencies - Your production binary stays lean
• ✅ Explicit over implicit - No hidden magic, full control
• ✅ Performance first - We measure everything
• ✅ Type safety - Catch errors at compile time
• ✅ Query builder, NOT ORM - We know our boundaries

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📦 Release Assets

• Release Notes: https://github.com/coregx/relica/releases/tag/v0.3.0-beta
• Source Code: https://github.com/coregx/relica/tree/v0.3.0-beta
• API Docs: https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/coregx/relica@v0.3.0-beta

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💙 Try It Out!

We're incredibly proud of this release and can't wait to see what you build with it!

If you find Relica useful:

• ⭐ Star the repo - https://github.com/coregx/relica
• 🐦 Share with your team - Help us reach more Go developers
• 💬 Join the discussion - Your feedback shapes our roadmap

Happy querying! 🚀

— COREGX Team

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P.S. - If you're handling hierarchical data (org charts, categories, BOM), the recursive CTE examples will blow your mind. Check out the CTE Guide! 😉