CCL queries are attached to derived streams or windows to select data from one or more inputs and transform it into the desired output.
CCL embeds queries within CREATE STREAM, CREATE WINDOW and CREATE DELTA STREAM statements in the same way that standard SQL uses CREATE VIEW statements. Unlike SQL, in CCL, SELECT is not a statement but rather is a clause used within a CREATE object_type statement.
Where the Visual editor lets you select data using visual components referred to as simple queries, these queries are actually CCL statements that create a stream or window with an attached query.