This isn't SQL as a body, it's an interpolated (and hopefully properly-escaped) string that ends up being SQL. IMO there's a big difference. (Also, Ecto isn't an ORM, by definition.)

I don't yet understand how this helps me.

* Ecto's DSL is thin

* The DSL is Elixir, so the IDE/editor helps me

* SQL embedded in a string is sort-of SQL, but invisible to the IDE

It seems like the worst of both worlds.

Isn't the author just creating their own DSL? -- "Do I need a DSL for querying database" Apparently you do, you need defql. /shrug