alamb opened a new issue, #3794:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/issues/3794

   **Background**
   
   Every expression in DataFusion has a name, which is used as the *column* 
name. For example, in this example the output contains a single column with the 
name `"COUNT(aggregate_test_100.c9)"`:
   
   ```sql
   ❯ select count(c9) from aggregate_test_100;
   +------------------------------+
   | COUNT(aggregate_test_100.c9) |
   +------------------------------+
   | 100                          |
   +------------------------------+
   ```
   
   These names are used to refer to the columns in both subqueries as well as 
internally from one stage of the `LogicalPlan` to another. For example
   
   ```
   ❯ select "COUNT(aggregate_test_100.c9)" + 1 from (select count(c9) from 
aggregate_test_100) as sq;
   +--------------------------------------------+
   | sq.COUNT(aggregate_test_100.c9) + Int64(1) |
   +--------------------------------------------+
   | 101                                        |
   +--------------------------------------------+
   1 row in set. Query took 0.005 seconds.
   ```
   
   **Implication***
   
   DataFusion contains an extensive set of OptimizerRules that may rewrite the 
plan and/or its expressions so they execute more quickly. However, the 
optimizer rules must so 
   
   Because DataFusion identifies columns using a string name, it means it is 
critical that the *names* of expressions are not changed by the optimizer when 
it rewrites expressions. This is typically accomplished by renaming a rewritten 
expression by adding an alias.
   
   Here is a simple example of such a rewrite. The expression `1 + 2` can be 
internally simplified to `3` but must still be displayed the same as `1 + 2`:
   
   ```sql
   ❯ select 1 + 2;
   +---------------------+
   | Int64(1) + Int64(2) |
   +---------------------+
   | 3                   |
   +---------------------+
   ```
   
   Looking at the `EXPLAIN` output we can see that the optimizer has 
effectively rewritten `1 + 2` into effectively `3 as "1 + 2"
   ```sql
   ❯ explain select 1 + 2;
   +---------------+-------------------------------------------------+
   | plan_type     | plan                                            |
   +---------------+-------------------------------------------------+
   | logical_plan  | Projection: Int64(3) AS Int64(1) + Int64(2)     |
   |               |   EmptyRelation                                 |
   | physical_plan | ProjectionExec: expr=[3 as Int64(1) + Int64(2)] |
   |               |   EmptyExec: produce_one_row=true               |
   |               |                                                 |
   +---------------+-------------------------------------------------+
   2 rows in set. Query took 0.001 seconds.
   ``` 
   
   If the expression name is not preserved, bugs such as 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/issues/3704 and 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/issues/3555 occur where the expected 
columns can not be found. 
   
   **Problems**
   
   There are at least three places that we have rediscovered the issue of names 
changing when rewriting expressions such as 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/issues/3704, 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/issues/3555 and 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/blob/master/datafusion/optimizer/src/simplify_expressions.rs#L316
   
   I tried to consolidate this learning into 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/pull/3727 but @liu
   
   However, as @liukun4515  has pointed out 
https://github.com/apache/arrow-datafusion/pull/3727#issuecomment-1269276333 , 
there are likely several other places that have similar bugs lurking
   


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