Voice of the DBA

Tag: career2

  • Powershell in a Month – Day 19 – I/O

    This is part of my Powershell Challenge, to learn more about PowerShell (PoSh) using the Learn Windows Powershell 3 in a Month of Lunches book by Don Jones.

    Not the I/O that we think of in T-SQL, but more the I/O that’s a part of many programming languages. This reminds me a bit of C, with the explanation of how the powershell environment interacts with the user. It’ s not standard in and out, but it’s close.

    This chapter also feels like it was written by a different author than some of the previous chapters. The chapter goes into some of the ways in which output commands interact with the shell, and how some do not. For example, the difference between Write-Host and Write-Output. The chapter uses diagrams of the pipeline to explain this. I was surprised that these diagrams weren’t used earlier in the discussion of the pipeline and how objects and data can flow through the pipeline. That’s a big omission from my point of view. I have a good idea of what a pipeline is, but the diagrams would have made it easier for many other people to understand what a pipeline is.

    In any case, this chapter mostly deals with the relationship between the input and output and the PoSh process. There are mentions of the separation and how other editors might deal with the input and output differently, but not good examples. In some ways, I found this chapter a bit lacking. In a few sections, it seems that the prose is devoted to more about what not to do than what to do and how to build I/O interaction with the user.

    The lab wasn’t great and overall, I didn’t like this chapter very much. Felt a little confusing about how I use this information.

     

     

  • Powershell in a Month Day 18–Variables

    This is part of my Powershell Challenge, to learn more about PowerShell (PoSh) using the Learn Windows Powershell 3 in a Month of Lunches book by Don Jones.

    I’m slightly behind here after holidays and some travel. Apparently my pop-up reminder for my own studies bears about as much value as quite a few other reminders that appear from people at work.

    I’ve had to deal with variables in any number of languages in my career: BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Java, C#, VB6, VB.NET, Foxpro, T-SQL, and a few more. I thought this chapter would be simple and it certainly started out that way, but I learned a few things and was pleasantly surprised.

    NOTE: The editor here is substituting left and right quotes, and left and right double quotes as part of formal writing. In executing this code, the normal straight quote and double quotes are needed in PoSh.

    The chapter starts out with the simple stuff, assigning values to variables. Unlike most languages,we don’t need to declare variables. You need one, just use it.

    $domain = ‘SSCLab’

    I’ve done this quite a bit in some of the practice for this series, but also in setting up my virtual lab. However I wasn’t sure why single and double quotes matter. If you’re not sure, this this:

    $computer = ‘Tiny’

    $Phrase = ‘Computer: $computer’

    $phrase

    and then this

    $computer = ‘Tiny’

    $Phrase = “Computer: $computer”

    $phrase

    You’ll see a difference. The first produces

    Computer: $computer

    The second actually does substitution and produces

    Computer: Tiny

    That means that you really need to pay attention to which set of quotes you are using in code. That’s an area I need to be careful. I also learned about the backtick as an escape character, but that’s an easy one as it’s similar in lots of languages to escape things out for newline and other special characters.

    What’s interesting about PoSh variables, and probably one of the more powerful things, is that the variables can contain objects. That’s big. It’s like being able to overload classes into variables easily and quickly. I’m sure the exercises just scratch the surface, but it’s cool.

    The lab was easy, just getting a job running and putting results in a variable. A combination of a few of the last few chapters.

  • The Remote Balance

    I still have hope that we will see more and more remote workers in the future. As large companies downsize and choose smaller facilities, and as many new companies start from scratch, we’ll see many of them considering telecommuting to find the best technologists for their openings as well as reduce their infrastructure costs. As noted in the book, Remote: “Today, the new paradigm is move work to the workers, rather than workers to the workplace.”

    I don’t know if we’ll ever get the majority of people working remotely from offices or at home, but I do know that I see more and more people able to get work done outside of a traditional office. I see people checking email and responding to trouble tickets in all sorts of situations, and with all sorts of jobs. I suspect that businesspeople continue to do this more and more as devices and software expand to allow it.

    I saw that quote from Remote in a blog from Scott Hanselman where he also commented on that idea, but noted that we need to strive for some balance. It is great that you can fix a problem at your kid’s soccer game or dance recital, but it’s also important that you attend and enjoy those events.

    Like most tools, our remote access can be good or bad. If you check too often, become tethered to devices, and ignore the real world, that’s bad. However if you leave the office early, get to the game, and get some work done before the action starts, that’s good. Just don’t forget to prioritize the important stuff, which is usually not work. It’s the event you’re attending.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

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  • Why Should You Network?

    This editorial was originally published on August 17, 2009. It is being re-run for the President’s Day holiday.

    Why should you network? I’m speaking about interpersonal networking, not the bits and bytes in the ether kind 🙂

    It’s an interesting question and one I’ve been thinking about a lot since reading Andy Warren’s posts on the subject. He thought it was interesting enough to engage Don Gabor for his business and spend a little money to learn how to do it better. After having a few sessions, Andy thought it was helpful enough to get a pre-conference session at PASS on this topic. It’s a short pre-con, 2 hours, and won’t interfere with anything else you’ve booked. It’s an additional $60, but I’ve paid my fee (it’s a business expense) and will be there.

    Whether or not you attend the session (it’s limited in size), I think there is value in learning to network better. Andy has reviewed a few books, and I’m sure I’ll have some quick techniques to give you after PASS, or even during it. If you see me during the conference, please don’t hesitate to come up and say hello to me. It’s always great to meet new people.

    Back to me question: why network? I’ll give you a few examples in my life. I involuntarily networked myself into this field. When I was in graduate school searching for a job, I saw an internship at the power company. There were a few positions, but one of them was in the EE department, slightly out of my field. The guy in charge, however, was an alum of the University of Virginia, and I applied, and he gave me the job because we were fellow graduates. I had asked him a few months later and he said I got preference for that reason.

    In 4 other cases later in my career, I’ve heard about consulting jobs in various places in the US. I haven’t been interested in any of them, but I have passed them along to friends that I’ve gotten to know over the years from SQLServerCentral. These were people that had taken the time to say hi to me at some event and then correspond with me a little. Many of them were authors, and as I got to know their skills, I became comfortable with recommending them for work. It didn’t benefit me other than a little goodwill and the feeling of helping others.

    I have heard about similar situations all the time, where people have built a friendship, or some other bond, and then referred work or helped someone get a job. As much as it may upset technical people, it’s still often who you know that matters much more than your technical skills. Networking is a great way to grow your career by knowing more people.

    Steve Jones

    PS, I don’t get anything from recommending Don’s session at PASS,  but I’ve already paid my fee to go, and since Andy Warren recommended it, I’ll do the same. I trust his advice. And if you don’t go, feel free to ask me anytime during the week about it.

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