> a performant join that avoids the hassle of SQL tables. Hm, a hassle is not always the same hassle for everyone. Personally, I like SQL and I enjoy the power it can leverage on all kind of data. As others wrote, working with sqlite for local data processing is a tool I do not want to miss, besides all of the great Unix coreutils and its (mostly GNU) ecosystem.
I wasn't aware, but some developers do seem to be allergic to SQL at all cost and would go to great lengths to avoid it just because.
I think a lot of it is derived annoyance at database administration, which can't be easily automated or one-and-done. SQLite is by all measures a terrible database, but people use it because it actually bothers to solve the "lack of hassle" problem.