Recently, I was asked how to retrieve data from a database without using SQL queries. They suggested using streams to accomplish this, and I'd like someone to explain how this can be done.
I initially mentioned ORM frameworks, but the interviewer said that wasn't the right answer as the frameworks use sql queries against the database to retrieve data.
It's possible that the answer they were looking for is log-based Change Data Capture (CDC), either via established tools like Debezium or custom-built CDC connectors. The gist of this approach is to read directly from the write-ahead log as CRUD operations happen in the database, rather than poll the database on some cadence using SQL (aka query-based CDC).