SeRQL: A Second Generation RDF Query Language

RDF Query Language proposals are more numerous than fish in the sea1, it seems. However, the most prominent proposals out there are query languages that were conceived as first generation tryouts of RDF querying, with little or no RDF-specific implementation and use experience to guide design, and based on an ever-changing set of syntactical and semantic specifications. In this position paper, we introduce a set of general requirements for an RDF query language. This set is compiled from discussions between RDF implementors, our own experience and user feedback that we received on our work in Sesame [4], as well as general principles of query language design. We go on to show how we have compiled these requirements into drafting the SeRQL query language. SeRQL is explicitly not meant as ’yet another’ query language: its aim is to reconcile ideas from existing proposals (most prominently RQL, RDQL and N3) into a proposal that satisfies a list of key requirements.