Taxonomy Garden: Views

Views
Purpose

The views module is a query building module that can display a listing or table of results. Views can include filters to limit results by a variety of criteria. This module does not specifically organize nodes, but allows retrieval of pre-categorized nodes.
UI

In admin/views, users can create a view entering appropriate values into a form. The form has the following subsections: display, block, table, URL, arguments, filters, and sorting. If a URL is specified, a menu item can be added for later retrieval. The view can be stored for later use, or use by other modules. Views can be displayed directly as well.
Pros

1. Easy to create complex queries without knowledge of SQL.
2. Views are very flexible and can display a large variety of information in useful formats.
3. Views can be immediately added to the menu tree for use in site structure.
4. Views can be re-used by other modules (e.g. the "Insert Views" filter module).

Cons

1. The create form is very long. The number of options might be daunting for some users.
2. When adding filters and sorting criteria, the form page must be reloaded (this is an opportunity for AJAX improvements).

Conclusion
The views module is very powerful at forming queries for users who do not know SQL. Even for SQL proficient users, the views module provides a useful mechanism for sharing queries across different modules. As more modules hook into the views module, the real value of this tool will become apparent.