Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • The Best Way to Learn

    Kindle
    How can we help you learn better?

    I constantly see people asking the question about how they should learn more about some aspect of SQL Server. We have lots of articles here on SQLServerCentral, and there are any number of other sources on the Internet, but I’ve typically recommended that people buy a book. I’ve been an author, and I like to support authors, but that isn’t why I recommend books.

    When you try to learn some new topic, say Reporting Services, there is so much information you can find on Google, but it’s all unorganized. It can be hard to learn without a plan, and books are usually organized in a way to walk you through a technology. That along can be valuable, and you can supplement chapters with articles you find around the web. This was the inspiration for our Stairway Series of topics, which we’ll eventually compile into books at some point. The Stairway on Reporting Services, by Jessica Moss, is excellent, and if you read through it, you’ll see what I mean.

    The book market is evolving, and e-books are exploding. I see more and more Kindles and other e-readers everywhere I go and it seems there’s a resurgence of reading, at least for some people. I know that technical books haven’t necessarily been popular on e-readers, but I’m sure that will change over time. I still think books are one of the best ways to tackle some new technology, but I think the static way we present information in most books could be improved. This week, I wanted to get some ideas from you.

    What would you like to see in an e-book that would help you learn?

    Would you like to see video included, or demos/screencasts of some feature being used? Should reference implementations of functions be linked from the book, or perhaps you’d like to see more interactive questions, puzzles, and evaluations of your knowledge as you proceed. One thing I thought might be interesting would be a pre-chapter quiz that could let you know if it’s even worth reading that section.

    I suspect that we’ll start to see more integration of platforms, perhaps even allowing you to sync your e-reader with an application on your desktop that allows you to cut/paste code from the book into SSMS while you have your e-reader on the desk. Give us your ideas today for ways that might make is easier for you to learn.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Learn XML

    XML sign on cab
    XML is going to be more important for DBAs in the future.

    I first learned a lot about XML from the PDC conference in Denver in 1998. I attended a number of sessions and thought this was a great technology that would soon dominate the data exchange markets. At the time I was developing an interface for an EDI system, and we knew XML would be important in the future.

    Over the years I’ve seen XML use grow, especially as a way to move data around between many systems, but I’m not sure it dominates data exchanges. There are still plenty of Excel documents and CSV files produced on a regular basis that must be imported into SQL Server. Many DBAs have an idea of what XML is, but they don’t often feel comfortable working with it, especially when it comes to the various XQuery functions inside SQL Server.

    As I’ve seen the use of XML increase in SQL Server. Not inside the database, but in the tools that we use as DBAs and data professionals. Our execution plans are XML documents, and XML is slowly becoming a more prevalent part of SQL Server with every release. There’s one place, however, that makes a very compelling case for all DBAs to learn how to work with and query XML: Extended Events.

    Understanding eventing will be more and more important over time. Profiler has been deprecated and will be removed at some point. DBAs should understand Extended Events and learn to work with them. That includes learning to query the data returned from the events, which you might have guessed, is in XML. I watched Jonathan Kehayias demonstrate this last year, and I’ve been following his writing on the topic, which includes

    Do yourself a favor, and learn how to work with XML and become comfortable querying them over the next year. We have some great articles on XML here on the site, and I you’ll be glad you did in the future.

    Steve Jones

  • Work to Live

    Me and my son skiing
    Balancing work and life as best I can

    I’m halfway through my career, having spent about 20 years since college working in technology with another twenty to go. The rest of the community is probably spread out around me, some older, some younger. It doesn’t matter what part of your life you are in, there are a few things about work that I think always apply. The first is that we work to live, and don’t live to work. The second is I like to hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

    It’s all too common for people in this business to overwork themselves, work very long hours, and neglect the rest of their life. I have rarely seen someone that is retired or late in life complain that they didn’t work enough over their lifetime, and I’d caution you to keep that in mind as you go through life. There will always be more work, more things to do, and more requests from clients and customers. Keep a balance in your life, and remember to enjoy it along the way.

    The second part of my advice can apply in many parts of our career, but it ought to apply to our finances and our retirement. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a few articles like this one that notes many people have not funded their retirements well. We all have expenses, and it’s easy to delay the investments in our life until later, but that is a bad idea. Whether it’s your IRA/401K or your health, you’d be better off sacrificing a little today for a little more security later.

    In the US, many employers match contributions and you ought to take advantage of that. There are all sorts of options for retirement, like ROTH IRAs, that it seems many people aren’t aware of. I also meet many people that don’t realize they can borrow against their 401K as well, taking a loan whose interest goes back to your own account. There are few excuses to not plan for the future. Enjoy today, but plan to live a long time and to enjoy your retirement.

    How much money you might need depends on your lifestyle, and that’s something you should spend time thinking about and talking with your family about. Many of us may not be able to retire at 65, or count on social security, but I’d hate to have to work longer than I want to because I cannot afford to retire.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Promoting Engineers

    CS career paths
    Do we have enough of a career path for technical people? I’m not sure we do in many companies.

    Never, ever promote your best salesperson.

    That’s the advice that Scott Horowitz got from his father. He talks a little about how this relates to technical people who find themselves looking at management to further their careers, or are sometimes even get promoted just because they’re the strongest technical employee in a group. Mr. Horowitz sees the transition as one that rarely works well, though he has some good advice on how you can increase the likelihood of success.

    In my career I’ve moved to management a few times and back again to a technical role, though never at the same company. I am sure it would be a strange move to be in charge and then move back to a contributing employee, but I do know some other people that have done it successfully in their careers. I have enjoyed both roles, and at different times in my career, the different role has fit me better.

    Many companies struggle with their technical people as they advance in their careers. Few companies think ahead and build dual career tracks in both the technical and managerial areas for their staff. As a result, many technical people find their career stalled in a company and may look to leave for another position. Setting aside a technical track that allows an employee to advance as a strong technical worker, and continue to grow their challenges and salary seems like a no-brainer, but it’s something rarely implemented outside of technology-oriented companies.

    Perhaps senior technical people can’t continue to add the same value as a manager or director in an organization. There are definitely lots of technical people that have a lot of seniority in a company, but do not necessarily bring a lot of additional value for all their experience. However some do, and those are often the people that a company should not let go. If they continue to grow their knowledge, and add more value, there ought to be a career advancement track for them in the technical area.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.