acet technologies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 08/30/2005 04:01:46 AM:
> dear sir, > >i am an IT engineer but i have a specialization in network, internet > >service & hardware. presently i hv setup my WISP company and i am now > free to pursue other endeavours, and i want to get to know more about the > >software angle of IT. > >I need assistance on how to develop my skills from the basics in using > SQL and oracle which will improve my credentials in the IT industry. > >i will appreciate your kind assistance. > > chizoba > acet technologies ltd > Nigeria > Congratulations on your new company. You would like to know more about the programming side of IT? The best way to learn is by doing. There are literally dozens of languages used to write modern computer programs. I refuse to start a flame war by suggesting that you learn one before another. You need to decide that for yourself based on what types of applications you want to write, what software utilities you can muster to support your language, and what educational resources are available to you. One of the best things you can do as a student is to locate a mentor. Look in your community or on the web for others with the skills you want and learn from them as much as possible. You ask about how to improve your skills with SQL and Oracle. Unfortunately, this mailing list does not support Oracle, we support a different relational database management system (RDBMS) called MySQL. Please visit its home page for more details: http://www.mysql.com/ We do answer questions on SQL very frequently here but we are not a tutorial service. There are many excellent tutorials and walkthroughs on the web to help you get started. Be prepared to read, read, read. The manuals are your friends. Find them and learn how to use them. Every RDBMS has its own dialect (variety) of SQL so there will be a few commands that will work on one server but not another. The "core" SQL grammar, though, is nearly identical for all systems and once you learn it for one, using it on another is laughably simple (usually). Again, which RDBMS system you learn on should be your decision. MySQL is robust, easy to use and maintain, and contains many enterprise-quality features. Of course, I recommend you start with it but I am not an impartial observer. If you decide to start with MySQL, please start with the online manual: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/index.html Not only does it cover setting up and testing an installation of MySQL on several platforms (operating systems) but it also has a fine introductory tutorial. If English is not your preferred language, it has translations for French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian. If you still do not understand something AFTER reading the appropriate sections of the manual, look on the web. There are many excellent sites that support MySQL. Before asking a question to the list, check the archives: http://lists.mysql.com/ Odds are, you aren't the first person to have that problem and the answer is probably waiting for you right there. I wish you luck! Shawn Green Database Administrator Unimin Corporation - Spruce Pine
