using uglify to turn javascript functions into DynamoDB query language

api.js

// just a quick brainstorm for my dynamo API: https://github.com/jed/dynamo

// is it worth it to use uglify-js to parse functions into ASTs, to be transformed into dynamo's non-standard query language?

// the good:
// - no need to learn new API, just use javascript to query
// - API ends up resembling well-known .map and .filter style
// - would be entirely optional, compiling into specifiable query objects

// the bad:
// - kinda hacky
// - only a subset of JS could be supported
// - would be difficult to query by variable

// would love to hear some feedback at @jedschmidt

items.filter("age", "GT", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age > 18 })

items.filter("age", "LT", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age < 18 })

items.filter("age", "GE", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age >= 18 })

items.filter("age", "LE", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age <= 18 })

items.filter("age", "EQ", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age == 18 })

items.filter("age", "NE", 18) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age != 18 })

items.filter("age", "NULL") // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return !("age" in x) })

items.filter("age", "NOT_NULL") // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return "age" in x })

items.filter("tags", "CONTAINS", "fun") // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.tags.indexOf("fun") >= 0 })

items.filter("tags", "NOT_CONTAINS", "fun") // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.tags.indexOf("fun") < 0 })

items.filter("name", "BEGINS_WITH", "Mc") // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.name.indexOf("Mc") == 0 })

items.filter("name", "IN", ["peter", "paul", "mary"]) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return ["peter", "paul", "mary"].indexOf(x.name) >= 0 })

items.filter("age", "BETWEEN", [18, 30]) // would become
items.filter(function(x){ return x.age >= 18 && x.age <= 30 })

thanks for the feedback, all.

@evilhackerdude, you're right. there's no way to enumerate the myriad ways that someone can check a substring, even if i do limit folks to indexOf.

@mhart, i think i'll start with generic query, scan, and filter methods that take the comparison operator names like above, and eventually specialize it into methods if it seems natural.