TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: If you were going to learn... From:Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 7 Mar 2002 18:04:53 -0800 (PST)
"Bonnie Granat" <> wrote
> ..about database technology, would you:
>
> (a) Learn Microsoft Access?
>
> (b) Take a class?
>
> (c) Read a book?
>
> (d) Give it up because you have to be a "techie" to understand it?
Before you learn about database systems, you really should learn about data
modeling and SQL. That's the conceptual basis that will make pretty much all
databases easier to understand. Lots of books and classes on this. I'd probably
say you'd be best to take a basic data modeling course, because data modeling
is as much an art as a science. And hardcore data normalization freaks can be
both irritating but educational. Its good to normalize, even if you don't have
to.
Once you understand data modeling and SQL, understanding Access, SQL Server.
MySQL, etc. will be a lot easier. The only exception I would make would be
Oracle which has a lot of proprietary things tacked on to their DBMS.
Have fun.
Andrew Plato
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
