Anyone here have a job which involves a lot of SQL Commands?

[grandmaster]

I wanna chat with some people about jobs that use SQL and the ways in which you use it etc.

Well thats it really, like, if you work for said company, what do you with SQL? What kind of commands do you use and what for?

Not creating databases - I dont wanna know about that just yet.
Existing DB only.

 

[kkelly]

I do a lot of Oracle SQL PL/SQL etc if that helps?

 

[grandmaster]

Yea it does!
Is this in the industry?
Or at uni?

 

[kkelly]

Industry for 4/5 years, what questions do you have?

 

[Mr^B]

Microsoft T-SQL here if that's any use...

 

[scorza]

I had a PL/SQL development job for 4-5 years some time ago now. Mainly SELECTs, INSERTs, and UPDATEs - DELETEs weren't allowed in most circumstances, we had to do logical deletions instead. Inner and outer joins were very useful to know.

 

[grandmaster]

Thats fantastic!
Congrats on being in the industry for so long
Im looking for someone on an advisory basis to be honest.

I wanna get into a role that involves SQL. In a junior role.
I'd like to know how SQL is used on a day to day basis.
So like, what would a company have you do?



I probably sound retarded lol

EDIT - You couldnt use SELECT??
When you say logical deletion what do you mean?
Why wouldnt they allow you to do so?

Any work in SQL welcome! Even MSQL Server!

 

[scorza]

Thats fantastic!
Congrats on being in the industry for so long
Im looking for someone on an advisory basis to be honest.

I wanna get into a role that involves SQL. In a junior role.
I'd like to know how SQL is used on a day to day basis.
So like, what would a company have you do?



I probably sound retarded lol

EDIT - You couldnt use SELECT??
When you say logical deletion what do you mean?
Why wouldnt they allow you to do so?

Any work in SQL welcome! Even MSQL Server!

No we couldn't DELETE (normally) as we had to preserve the data for good reasons (which I can't explain now ). To logically delete we'd UPDATE the rows, which had columns called From Transaction ID and To Transaction ID. Anything with a non-null To Transaction ID was logically deleted. The From Transaction ID got populated when the row was created.

Edit: just remembered, my job was more Pro*C than PL/SQL lol.

So my job was firstly to learn how the database was supposed to work - what tables were available, what data they contained, how the transaction based architecture was supposed to be used. Then I had to take a detailed design document, or a module specification, and write a package or executable for that module spec, then test it and fix any defects.

We still do plenty of work of this type and constantly require junior people to do it. However these days it's very competitive - best way of doing it is to get a good maths based degree from a decent university (personally I think this makes a lot of our junior people overqualified but hey ho - they need to get experience). There's plenty of competition from Indian developers too

 

[kkelly]

I sort of landed in my job having used SQL Server 2003 in a previous job. We use PL/SQL to automate many of the functions of the system via BPEL and Unix Cron jobs.

We also use simple SQL reports for the front end users, as well OBIEE. We will query the database via 'SQL Developer' to check the status of various things daily

To be honest once you've got your head around the structure of a companies system it's just working out how the company operates. I've found the syntax between the languages not that different in my travels.

You can get Oracle XE or SQL Server Express for free if you want to have a play about.

 

[kar]

I've worked with SQL directly and indirectly for over 12 years now as a systems, applications and now web software engineer. Certainly in any kind of development role, you're going to need to, at a minimum, have a familiarity with ANSI SQL and in some jobs, procedural extensions to it like PL/SQL and whatever it is they call the extensions in MySQL and PostgreSQL.

If you're seriously interested in Relational Databases and SQL, to be honest, I would go and get hold of a copy of Introduction to Database Systems by C.J. Date and a download PostgreSQL and start experimenting.

In terms of careers, genuine Database Administrator (DBA) jobs are slowly going the way of COBOL ones (into extinction). But many jobs require SQL skills, ranging from web development, to application dev right through to real-time and embedded systems programming. But as a job in and of itself, DBA/SQL work is drying up as tools and platforms mature to the point where dedicated personnel are not in great demand.

 

[grandmaster]

Ive got a book to be honest and im working through it.
i aced it in Uni back in the day som im quite alright with the commands IE following the book.

In terms of careers - a lot of companies are starting to use Microsoft SQL Server so i wanna learn the commands atleast and then mess with MSSQL Server.

Im more curious or anxious about how a company wuld use your skills within their industry.

 

[grandmaster]

No we couldn't DELETE (normally) as we had to preserve the data for good reasons (which I can't explain now ). To logically delete we'd UPDATE the rows, which had columns called From Transaction ID and To Transaction ID. Anything with a non-null To Transaction ID was logically deleted. The From Transaction ID got populated when the row was created.

Edit: just remembered, my job was more Pro*C than PL/SQL lol.

So my job was firstly to learn how the database was supposed to work - what tables were available, what data they contained, how the transaction based architecture was supposed to be used. Then I had to take a detailed design document, or a module specification, and write a package or executable for that module spec, then test it and fix any defects.

We still do plenty of work of this type and constantly require junior people to do it. However these days it's very competitive - best way of doing it is to get a good maths based degree from a decent university (personally I think this makes a lot of our junior people overqualified but hey ho - they need to get experience). There's plenty of competition from Indian developers too

Do i need maths? Lol!
What math based queries will i do?
Im way past the degree stage! Been there done that.
Just never used SQL although i loved it back in Uni..wanna get back into it!

Oh yes - Indian developers are KILLING IT!
These guys know the whole framework at such a young age (ASP,SQL,C# VB Etc)

 

[Nanoman]

I work with Microsoft SQL Server. The software I work with uses multiple databases to store data. I use SQL for queries when required to manipulate this information.

I also use the MS GUI tools quite a lot as well, i.e. Enterprise Manager. Much easier way of managing permissions, backups, jobs, etc.

 

[Stretch]

I don't want to state the obvious but most people use select, insert, update and delete commands which are fairly self explanatory. The exotic commands really boil down to more sophisticated ways to perform these basic functions. Some advanced features aren't really SQL, the are proprietary extension to the language T-SQL in the case of SQL Server, and PL/SQL in the case of Oracle.

I've worked with both Oracle and SQL server and largest difference I've noticed on a day to day basis is increased scope for performance tuning, hints, better indexing, table partitioning etc along with the ability to create packages and advanced data types.

I try and steer away from DB work nowadays if I can help it. I’m big fan of ORM tools such as N-Hibernate/Entity Framework and LINQ. I like designing databases but coding DALs is dull.

 

[kkelly]

@grandmaster, what do you work as now?

You should also look at Vendor SQL Certification's if you want to start building you CV, assuming you have little or no industry experience.

Anyway good luck

 

[grandmaster]

Co like from below, how far would a junior role go lol? (Am i being stupid)

Change
List
Append
input
And
Or
Between


Left join
Right Join
Substr
Instr

Triggers?

 

[Dolph]

Ive got a book to be honest and im working through it.
i aced it in Uni back in the day som im quite alright with the commands IE following the book.

In terms of careers - a lot of companies are starting to use Microsoft SQL Server so i wanna learn the commands atleast and then mess with MSSQL Server.

Im more curious or anxious about how a company wuld use your skills within their industry.

Might be worth downloading SQL Server Express in that case, will give you a good opportunity to play with T-SQL.

As for how a company uses your skills, that depends what the role is, what the data will be used for, whether you are working with Operational or reporting information and so on. The thing is, most SQL stuff is fairly similar, what matters is knowledge of the data structures and where to go. While you can't always learn about specific company structures, familiarising yourself with different schema, their uses, common query types and so on is definitely a good idea.

 

[grandmaster]

@grandmaster, what do you work as now?

You should also look at Vendor SQL Certification's if you want to start building you CV, assuming you have little or no industry experience.

Anyway good luck

Trying to get in an IT related role to be honest. I was working in since Uni and worked for this company after that for another 6 years until redundancy - But it wasnt anything IT related.

They wont even accept me for 1st Line LOL even though for this company i worked in their Broadband sector for quite some while - Although that differs from the 1st Line a company would want (Active Directory Etc)

Im studying SQL in my own time while im at home instead of watching TV for hours lol

 

[Haircut]

Oh yes - Indian developers are KILLING IT!
These guys know the whole framework at such a young age (ASP,SQL,C# VB Etc)

A lot of Indian developers have lots of buzzwords on their CVs and claim to know it all, but when actually given a problem to solve will struggle with it.
If you can apply your knowledge and think for yourself then you'll stand above a lot of them.

As for SQL, I've worked with Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, DB2 and MySQL at various points over my career.
Once you get your head round thinking of data in terms of sets and operations on those sets you shouldn't have any issues with SQL.
Personally I find most database stuff boring these days and try to steer clear of it if I can help it.

 

[grandmaster]

By the way i appreciate your patience and advice thus far....All of you.