WHERE some_col > ''
Since null > '' produces unknown, this has the effect of filtering out both null and empty strings.
@JoshPinter: coalesce(some_col, '') = ''
The Haskell String type is notoriously inefficient. We introduce a new data type, ByteString, based on lazy lists of byte arrays, combining the speed benefits of strict arrays with lazy evaluation. Equational transformations based on term rewriting are used to deforest intermediate ByteStrings automatically. We describe novel fusion combinators with improved expressivity and performance over previous functional array fusion strategies. A library for ByteStrings is implemented, providing a purely functional interface, and approaches the speed of low-level mutable arrays in C.
Inventor of linear runtime suffix tree construction, e.g. for solving longests common substring in linear runtime, which Knuth claimed impossible three years before...
A Tutorial and Recipe Book for Those in a Hurry - Provides an owerview of what can be done with the BioJava API: All sorts of string manipulation, HMMs, Trees etc.