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I always hate that aliases thing — after seeing query builders do it I've taken to using column numbers (eg. GROUP BY 1, 2, 3) in my own code if I'm grouping on a lot of computed columns. More foolproof.

SQL is not a great language. Serviceable, but not great.

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Foolproof til you restructure your select and forget to change the numbers. SQL: ya just can't win sometimes.

To be fair you will have the same problem if you ever change the name of the alias.

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