We just finished our first lesson on SQL. It is a language that allows a user to query or change data in a database. I have been using it at work on and off for the past several months, so I have become pretty familiar with it. This first lesson was very basic and taught us how to create a database, create tables and add data. We did go over some of the differences between Oracle and SQL Server so that was helpful, otherwise I would be typing functions that don’t exist. We also went over normalization a little more to get a better understanding.

Our group had to turn in the first piece of our project, so hopefully we did everything correct. The professor made it sound like we would have a lot to do over the weekend on our project, but maybe I won’t be too busy.

We also got a test results back and I somehow managed to get an A. So, that was exciting. Hopefully I can keep it up. We only have 3 more classes left and I think everyone is ready for this one to be over except me. I definately have a better understanding of this course since it is not as conceptual as the first one. Or maybe I just need to be more conceptual.

Tonight I had the mid-term for my database management class. I think that it went very well. I guess I will know for sure on Tuesday when he grades it. It was very straight forward and instead of asking us definitions he made us apply what we had learned to solve problems. I think that I like that style a little better. I always tend to get tripped up on textbook definitions.

It seems like we are a little behind in the class. Five weeks is almost not enough for this type of course. We had to eliminate one chapter from the mid-term, but covered it tonight after the test. It was over database normalization and was pretty interesting. Kind of hard to grasp, but I think after some more reading it will make sense. He said it was one of the most important things that we will cover.

Overall, I am enjoying this class a lot. I think I have a better understanding of the technical and analytical stuff which is kind of surprising. I always thought that I had a good mixture of my left and right brain. In the past couple of years I have noticed that my left side is starting to overpower the right. I don’t know if that is good or not. I guess we will see what the future holds.

We had our first quiz tonight. It was pretty straight forward and I got all of the answers right. I guess that is a step in the right direction. Hopefully our mid term next week will be similar. He said that it would be, it would just cover more material obviously. He had the quiz cover the first three chapters and the mid term will cover the first six. I thought it was a good idea, because it helped us get the studying for the first three chapters out of the way. Now I can spend the weekend studying the next three.

We have been working on taking requirements from the business owner and converting them to a database model. It is pretty interesting all of the assumptions that we make about the data. One person will think it means one thing and someone else will interpret it differently. It goes to show that you must get all of the information before beginning to work on a model. I think this goes for any IT project though and not just database design.

There is some data that I have at work that needs to be put in a database for other employees to access and manipulate. I think it will give me the perfect opportunity to put my knowledge from class into practice. Luckily it is a very small dataset, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I just have to get a developer to build the interface for the end user. It should be a good learning experience for me.

We discussed database modeling in class tonight in our groups. We really just looked at a small dataset and determined the inefficiencies of how it was structured.  Once we were done with our groups, we were to model a new database as a class. This turned into a debate amongst everyone of the proper way to do it. Everyone had their own opinions and were getting frustrated when someone disagreed with them.

Wow…arguing about database modeling, I have never felt like such a dork.

After a week off, I started my new class tonight. It is a database management class and should be pretty interesting. It is more of a technical course which I think I will enjoy a little more. We will be working with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to learn how to design, build and manage a database. We have a couple of SQL Server databases at work, but I mainly work on Oracle 10g databases. I don’t think the transition for this class will be too difficult.

We have a new professor teaching this class as well. He described other business classes as being able to have answers that are great, good, ok, etc. He said that in this class you are either right or wrong. I sure did like getting partial credit in the previous class, so I guess I will have to study that much harder for this one.

One of the cool things about this program is UTA’s relationship with Microsoft. Students already get software for a very reduced rate, but since software is required for this course we get to download full versions of SQL Server for free. Hopefully I will get access to some other software as well. I have my eye on Visual Studio 2008.

I’ll be sure and keep you updated on how this class progresses.