Re: newbie: looking for guidance

I could use some good advice.

I am interested in learning SQL (using the hands-on self-study approach). However, when I visited the Oracle software downloads page (http://otn.oracle.com/software/content.html), I found myself not knowing exactly what to download that was "free". I am running Win98SE on an Athlon XP 1600+ system with 512 MB RAM. Please advise.

Thank you for your attention.

From: Kevin McDaniel (kmcdaniel96_at_home.com) Subject: Re: Newbie: Looking for guidance Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle.misc
Date: 2001-05-14 17:05:28 PST

Sean,

All I can offer are the lessons from my own experiences. The Oracle DBA 101 was the very first Oracle book I purchased. I bought that book to help me make the decision to become a DBA. And my initial reactions, and even my continued reactions, are similar to those you've experienced. The amount of required information to be consumed is nearly stroke-provoking. This is why there are so few DBAs, and so many companies needing them. This is by no means a simple "I'd think maybe this time around I'll be a DBA" kind of career change. The investment is substantial and road is very hard. As far as employment, I lucked out in mine. My company decided to implement a new system that used Oracle as a back-end. They needed a DBA and was willing to grow one. So now I'm attending classes offered by Oracle Univ. and working with the implementation team at the same time.

As far as what to focus on... SQL! It's the foundation of Oracle. Without it, you'll go nowhere. PL/SQL is Oracle's programming extension to SQL. SQL, by itself, does not have much logic built into it. In order to do things like LOOPS, you'll need PL/SQL. You can download a free copy of Oracle from their website. Install it, making sure you create the demo database. A warning, it is beefy! So make sure you have the CPU and memory for it. Use this database to practice your SQL. I, personally, suggest classes. Others may suggest self-study. Choice is yours.

Good luck.

"Sean Flynn" <sflynn1_at_rcn8.com> wrote in message news:9dpimj$cjt$1_at_bob.news.rcn.net...
> Greetings,
> Trying to make the transition from a sales/acct mgmt background to an Oracle
> DBA track and a bit overwhelmed by the initial crush of info. This decision
> is after yet another startup has fallen by the wayside leaving me unemployed
> (and truthfully a bit tired of sales). I've picked up "Oracle DBA 101" from
> Oracle press and have seen mention of some other good books posted here, but
> I'm still unsure of my next steps. In NYC (and certainly elsewhere) there
> are several vocational schools and Universities (Oracle included) that
> provide training for this track, but I don't know what standard to base an
> evaluation on. Does anyone have any opinions on any of these programs one
> way or the other, taking into account my lack of real programming
> experience? I'm sure I can learn it, I just don't want to be at a
> disadvantage without it if I do take a course.
> Ideally I'd like to be able to start working in this field at some level as
> soon as possible (that IS the goal here), so I can take advantage of the
> gurus and hands-on usage that are available. At what point does someone
> become employable in this regard? Is it more important to focus on SQL vs
> PL/SQL?
> Any advice/help/insight is most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>
> Sean
>
Received on Fri Sep 27 2002 - 17:30:26 CDT