Thank you, Chris! I could tell from your posts you are a wealth of useful information. I appreciate you taking the time to share with me points which obviously as a beginner I would not be privy to and would not otherwise know was missing from my knowledge of the subject. I'm very appreciative!
My interest in db use falls, I believe, under the category 'small public websites'. I don't know if I have that great a desire to spend time with accounts to understand the nuances of financial tracking necessary to do the kind of work that you and your company engage in. I know a few accounts and thank goodness they do what they do but I also enjoy a little more variety in my work day than the area provides. I guess it's a personal choice.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience with me and your insight into possible causes of program failure. Sometimes I find I learn the best lessons from my mistakes though when a lot of people are depending on me, dealing with the subsequent disappointment involved can be really difficult. I take quality very seriously which is why I am learning what I am learning. I want to create a website to sell digital downloads of mp3's I create at home. When I began (some well meaning soul advised me to learn a little HTML and CSS and I would have no problem) I took a look at what I needed to depend on to keep my site running such as the web host company and the payment gateway company and started asking questions of the respective help desks to feel out who I could depend on when I needed them. Turns out I can depend upon me and that's it!! The (no)help desks were very informative about how much I (and my customers through me) could depend on them for timely efficient service. So I realized that I was going to have to do this myself. And the journey continues to be beneficial and educational. I've met a lot of really great, helpful, knowledgeable (and busy!) people who, like yourself, have pointed out a resource and shared a timely tidbit of information when I really needed it and was ready to absorb it. And I'm grateful to all of them. And my work is beginning to pay off. I still have a ways to go before I can build what I want but at least now I know what I need to learn and why it will be helpful whereas while in the disappointment phase, I didn't even have a clue what I needed to learn and know.
You have a point about understanding the mathematical basis for a structure in order to better use the structure. In the past few days I have looked at some of the resources that you and others have mentioned in the comments. Not all are accessible to me at this time but I did find one on mathematical philosophy which I want to spend more time with when my schedule allows. I feel it will shed light not only on databases but also the programming language and application which I am working on understanding. I'm glad to have access to that resource.
I like your points about the benefits of PostgreSQL and am interested in exploring more information about stored procedures, table inheritance and user defined types. I'm not sure if my needs include taking advantage of the PostGIS add-on but, as I'm sure you can tell, I do like to keep all my options open since I never know what the future holds for me and I like to know where my resources are that I may call on them should the need arise.
I think at this point I think we call talk about book details off this forum, if that is okay with you.
Thank you for the generous response, Chris,
Anita.
I've been reading what you and the others have to say and also reading some of your work online since the comments have been very informative for me. I'm grateful for the calibre of the information which I'm able to access via this experience. Thank you.
You are asking some interesting questions. To be honest I haven't thought about where I want to take my db knowledge since my review is to serious database design is what editing home movies on a computer is to unionized film production. I've been evaluating a book on mathematical philosophy online for most of this morning and it is introducing me to concepts that are making a whole lot of sense to me. It's been filling in a lot of blanks in terms of understanding programming languages and applications that that have been making me crazy.
If you are willing to suggest a book or two or perhaps a tutorial or mailing list, I will evaluate your suggestions and act accordingly. If it is inappropriate to do so in this venue, you may email me personally.
I appreciate your evaluation of PostgreSQL. Since I just learned SQL, I'm not attached to it in any way and am willing to look at other options of RDBMS (or is it RDBMS's?). Again a link or suggestion will be accepted and evaluated on the terms with which it is presented.
It certainly sounds like there is a huge gap between those who design and maintain databases as a career and the respect they receive from those for/with whom they work. I can certainly understand how that feels and it must be the cause of large amounts of frustration judging from the comments I have read.
Kudos for working on a solution to the problem you perceive. I'd be grateful to help in anyway that I am able. My return feedback for submitted chapters will depend on what else is happening in my schedule. Perhaps we could work towards a turn around time of a chapter a week based upon the length of the chapter and the accessibility of the content. And how would you like to receive feedback? I've done this before through email using HTML mark up for comments (like using a different font and colour (I'm Canadian so some of my words will have an extra u though I won't expect your book to include a u in color if the word is in the manuscript)). I'm wondering though if something from 37 signals would do I better job (being able to work on a piece at a time or discuss a paragraph without flipping the whole chapter back and forth). What are your thoughts?
Again if this is venue inappropriate you may email me personally,
Are you genuinely curious? Or is this another opportunity for condescension?
You seem able to be generous, astute, and helpful judging from your posts on this forum and others.
If that is your motivation, I would be grateful to benefit from your superior knowledge of this subject. Thank you.
You also seem to have the ability to be malicious and confrontational.
If that is your motivation, organize the group, there seem to be a lot of you,
though they seem to lack for a leader at present, and design your logo.
I'll be speaking with the people who have something useful to share.
Which behaviour would you like to direct towards me?
USE slashdot;
SELECT string FROM head_first_sql_book_review
WHERE string = 'databases';
START TRANSACTION;
UPDATE head_first_sql_book_review
SET string = 'an instance of a database using the MySQL CREATE DATABASE command'
WHERE string = 'databases';
COMMIT;
Re:Couldn't finish the review...
on
Head First SQL
·
· Score: 1
Thank you, MilSF1, for taking the time to point out my syntax error.
Slashdot Mirror
Thank you, Chris! I could tell from your posts you are a wealth of useful information. I appreciate you taking the time to share with me points which obviously as a beginner I would not be privy to and would not otherwise know was missing from my knowledge of the subject. I'm very appreciative!
My interest in db use falls, I believe, under the category 'small public websites'. I don't know if I have that great a desire to spend time with accounts to understand the nuances of financial tracking necessary to do the kind of work that you and your company engage in. I know a few accounts and thank goodness they do what they do but I also enjoy a little more variety in my work day than the area provides. I guess it's a personal choice.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience with me and your insight into possible causes of program failure. Sometimes I find I learn the best lessons from my mistakes though when a lot of people are depending on me, dealing with the subsequent disappointment involved can be really difficult. I take quality very seriously which is why I am learning what I am learning. I want to create a website to sell digital downloads of mp3's I create at home. When I began (some well meaning soul advised me to learn a little HTML and CSS and I would have no problem) I took a look at what I needed to depend on to keep my site running such as the web host company and the payment gateway company and started asking questions of the respective help desks to feel out who I could depend on when I needed them. Turns out I can depend upon me and that's it!! The (no)help desks were very informative about how much I (and my customers through me) could depend on them for timely efficient service. So I realized that I was going to have to do this myself. And the journey continues to be beneficial and educational. I've met a lot of really great, helpful, knowledgeable (and busy!) people who, like yourself, have pointed out a resource and shared a timely tidbit of information when I really needed it and was ready to absorb it. And I'm grateful to all of them. And my work is beginning to pay off. I still have a ways to go before I can build what I want but at least now I know what I need to learn and why it will be helpful whereas while in the disappointment phase, I didn't even have a clue what I needed to learn and know.
You have a point about understanding the mathematical basis for a structure in order to better use the structure. In the past few days I have looked at some of the resources that you and others have mentioned in the comments. Not all are accessible to me at this time but I did find one on mathematical philosophy which I want to spend more time with when my schedule allows. I feel it will shed light not only on databases but also the programming language and application which I am working on understanding. I'm glad to have access to that resource.
I like your points about the benefits of PostgreSQL and am interested in exploring more information about stored procedures, table inheritance and user defined types. I'm not sure if my needs include taking advantage of the PostGIS add-on but, as I'm sure you can tell, I do like to keep all my options open since I never know what the future holds for me and I like to know where my resources are that I may call on them should the need arise.
I think at this point I think we call talk about book details off this forum, if that is okay with you.
Thank you for the generous response, Chris,
Anita.
I'm grateful for your choice.
I've been reading what you and the others have to say and also reading some of your work online since the comments have been very informative for me. I'm grateful for the calibre of the information which I'm able to access via this experience. Thank you.
You are asking some interesting questions. To be honest I haven't thought about where I want to take my db knowledge since my review is to serious database design is what editing home movies on a computer is to unionized film production. I've been evaluating a book on mathematical philosophy online for most of this morning and it is introducing me to concepts that are making a whole lot of sense to me. It's been filling in a lot of blanks in terms of understanding programming languages and applications that that have been making me crazy.
If you are willing to suggest a book or two or perhaps a tutorial or mailing list, I will evaluate your suggestions and act accordingly. If it is inappropriate to do so in this venue, you may email me personally.
I appreciate your evaluation of PostgreSQL. Since I just learned SQL, I'm not attached to it in any way and am willing to look at other options of RDBMS (or is it RDBMS's?). Again a link or suggestion will be accepted and evaluated on the terms with which it is presented.
It certainly sounds like there is a huge gap between those who design and maintain databases as a career and the respect they receive from those for/with whom they work. I can certainly understand how that feels and it must be the cause of large amounts of frustration judging from the comments I have read.
Kudos for working on a solution to the problem you perceive. I'd be grateful to help in anyway that I am able. My return feedback for submitted chapters will depend on what else is happening in my schedule. Perhaps we could work towards a turn around time of a chapter a week based upon the length of the chapter and the accessibility of the content. And how would you like to receive feedback? I've done this before through email using HTML mark up for comments (like using a different font and colour (I'm Canadian so some of my words will have an extra u though I won't expect your book to include a u in color if the word is in the manuscript)). I'm wondering though if something from 37 signals would do I better job (being able to work on a piece at a time or discuss a paragraph without flipping the whole chapter back and forth). What are your thoughts?
Again if this is venue inappropriate you may email me personally,
Anita.
Are you genuinely curious? Or is this another opportunity for condescension?
You seem able to be generous, astute, and helpful judging from your posts on this forum and others.
If that is your motivation, I would be grateful to benefit from your superior knowledge of this subject. Thank you.
You also seem to have the ability to be malicious and confrontational.
If that is your motivation, organize the group, there seem to be a lot of you,
though they seem to lack for a leader at present, and design your logo.
I'll be speaking with the people who have something useful to share.
Which behaviour would you like to direct towards me?
I'm curious,
Anita.
USE slashdot;
SELECT string FROM head_first_sql_book_review
WHERE string = 'databases';
START TRANSACTION;
UPDATE head_first_sql_book_review
SET string = 'an instance of a database using the MySQL CREATE DATABASE command'
WHERE string = 'databases';
COMMIT;
I am grateful,
Anita.