I&#x27;m so used to using and reading the &quot;AS&quot; syntax for aliasing that if I came across this it&#x27;d throw me off.<p>It seems to me that sticking everything in CTEs would be equally as jarring. Writing SQL or reading and understanding someone else&#x27;s SQL is almost always a non-linear process, not least of all because the processing order by the database engine isn&#x27;t top-to-bottom.