Re: is learning MS access beneficial to learn oracle and sql server?

amanda94621_at_yahoo.com (amanda) wrote in message news:<bbea23b7.0303182012.6b93f953_at_posting.google.com>...
> amanda94621_at_yahoo.com (amanda) wrote in message news:<bbea23b7.0303181053.9a25edd_at_posting.google.com>...
> > Hi,
> > Please bear with me.
> >
> > I am a computer student who has missed out on learning database course
> > (junior level) well because the prof. just taught nothing. He was sick
> > that semester and all he gave as assignment was to create some tables
> > and insert values. Actually, it was a 6 credit course for "Data
> > Structure (use C) and Database Design", called a leveling course for
> > grad studnet whose background is not from computer.
> >
> > Fortunately, I was taking "Inrto to SQL and PL/SQL" at a community
> > college (knowing that I would get nothing from the course at my
> > school) but the instructor there was teaching it for the first time
> > (he usually teach pascal and C++) and so the pace was quite slow.
> >
> > I basically learned on my own reading the text book which was too
> > easy. I don't feel that we finished as much as we could have. I also
> > had a surgery that semester and so the pace worked well for me at that
> > time.
> >
> > By the way, I jumped into computer field (Originally from my natural
> > science background: chemistry) without taking any course in MS office
> > cause I had no money; I plan to study those on my own but didn't
> > happen due to time constraint and illness.
> >
> > Later, I took a graduate level database course (DBMS), very
> > theorectical and so I am thorughly familiar with relational databse.
> >
> > What I would like to do is get serious skill in using Oracle Pl/SQL
> > as well sql server's stored procedure (not as a DBA but as someone who
> > can pick things up so that I can find a job). I have taken Java, Basic
> > C++ - like C, Visual Basic, and plan to take a Unix course at a
> > community college.
> >
> > I am not proficient in use of MS Access except for creating basic
> > tables.
> > Should I get a book on MS ACCESS (I have 2002 software) and if so,
> > what book if you know and do some exercise before getting serious on
> > SQL langauge, etc. Remembr that I have already learned "Intro do SQL
> > and very basic PL/SQL" and have theorectical background.
> >
> > I am asking because I don't want to buy books and then not used while
> > I am overwhlemed with what to learn on my own. I have so many books
> > some of which I tounched only a few pages once or twice, like "Regular
> > Expressions". Now..it is time for me to learn systematicllay instead
> > of buying books after books, not that I have any more money.
> >
> > Any suggetsion on how I should go about "establishing good Databse
> > skills" would GREATLY be appreciated.
> >
> > Amanda
>
> Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.
>
> Now I know for sure what I should do. As I mentioned, I took grad
> course named DBMS and hence know normalization, ER model, etc.
> already. Since I need to develop useful skill to find a job, I will
> check the cool thing about Access later and now concentrate on the
> skills that will be useful in the industry.

The industry is very large. I think some of the dichotomy you've seen in the answers as well as your coursework comes from the fact that "the industry" is very diverse, and your view of it will be skewed by the particular part of the industry you are in. "Pure" programming is very scarce, an argument can be made it is only in ivory tower environments (and some rare software house jobs). Most jobs are in some sort of context, in software houses this would be called "vertical market." So in some big accounting consulting company they may have some sections devoted to Oracle and a larger number of people devoted to spreadsheets and other PC-oriented stuff. Other markets have their own distribution of Oracle v. non-oracle. A big determinant whether you can have a particular software career is what other skills you posess. And once you get on a particular path, it can be hard to change. So the important thing is to determine what you like to do, what you want to do, and how to get there. If all you want to do is sit in a corner and program, you probably don't want to be sitting in front of some impatient MBA explaining why Access or Oracle can't immediately do such and such. If all you want is "a job," you will get one, and not be happy about it. Aim high. Work your strengths. There's a reason there are many McJobs and few really good careers.

jg

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