...just another opinion here...
I used to think that writing SQL manually was the best and only way--in part because I did work in Oracle, (which didn't use the JOIN keyword), and other dbms's as well as Access.
And it was a good exercise--but now I use Access as a tool when developing in any language with any backend. Partly for browsing data while developing, but also partly for building sql statements with the query builder--especially long and complex ones. It has saved me so much time, and I don't give a hoot if it's not for 'purists'. In the time it takes to hand-type in a sql statement that updates 40 fields in a table I could make 20 of them in the QBE--plus have time for a coffee break.
Sure, if I'm doing a quick update or select in SQL-server's query-analyzer or Oracle's sql-plus--I'll hand type it. But for anything more--I see it almost like a calculator: I'll add 2+2 in my head, but if I'm going to multiply a few 3-digit numbers--why be a purist and do it by hand when you've got a calculator?
--Jim