Using Lateral Joins for Business Analytics in CockroachDB 20.1

CockroachDB's 20.1 release introduces lateral joins, which can significantly reduce the lines of code needed for business analytics. This feature allows data sources to reference columns provided by previous data sources in the same query. An example using a fictional ride-sharing company, MovR, demonstrates how lateral joins can be used to run analytic queries directly in CockroachDB. The article provides an overview of setting up CockroachDB 20.1 and presents a step-by-step guide on implementing lateral joins for calculating the average time between customers' first and second rides, which is crucial for increasing customer loyalty and profitability.