Why we're building Flux, a new data scripting and query language, is to provide functionality that doesn't currently exist in the SQL standard for working with time series data. We want a language that will enable developers and data scientists to push more workloads into the data platform layer, without having to write Python scripts to further process their data. The design goals of Flux include usability, readability, composability, testability, contributability, and shareability. It should be functional, allowing users to define functions and import code created by other developers. The language's syntax is intended to look and feel familiar, with a focus on readability and clarity. By creating a new language from the ground up, we can provide a better experience for our users and enable them to work more efficiently with time series data.