Data storage and retrieval is a different domain than data processing. SQL is very good at the former, not so great for the latter.

SQL is closer to array programming than the usual imperative implementation of looping (and stream programming like the one in Java and Javascript). A better implementation is functional programming like haskell and clojure (lazy and composition of functions).

I think developers should be able to switch their mental model on the fly according to the current domain instead of getting stuck in the first paradigm they have learned.