Voice of the DBA

Tag: misc

Have a Think

I’m used to working at a chaotic pace. I have lots of diverse projects and deliverables that constantly force me to change my focus. I have short term and long term projects. I work with diverse technologies. My workload is a mix of development and administrative tasks. It’s a hectic schedule that gets worse when I travel since SQLServerCentral must continue to run.

Years ago I was struggling with daily deliverables, the bimonthly SQL Server Standard magazine, and a couple book projects a year. It was maddening, especially when my business partners also wanted me to experiment with ways to grow our business. I wondered, how would I ever find time to dream up new ideas or implement a proof of concept.

Andy Warren helped me slow down by scheduling “thinking time.” He told me it was important, and he had to make some at his job. Carve out an hour once a week or so and just spend time thinking about a project. Don’t do; just think.

I have kept that advice in mind over the years, and I try to take some time to just think about the tasks I need to accomplish. I don’t worry about actually getting anything done, but instead try to just think about the best way to move forward. I don’t always succeed, but I continue to try to make time and just think.

Whether you run a business or just write code for one, I think the art of stopping and thinking is a bit lost. So few of us actually stop to spend some time planning. Instead we’re very quick to start writing code or trying out a configuration change. While I am a proponent of experimenting, I still think it’s worth taking a few minutes and just consider different ways to experiment. Often we can choose better experiments if we have a plan.

Try it this week. Take ten or fifteen minutes and think about the next task rather than diving right in. You might find it to be a more valuable tool than just experimenting.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

October 1, 2015
A Clock With Benefits

One of the difficulties I think that developers face is that so few people understand what actually goes into producing software. The end result that a user sees can mask the effort and complexity of the underlying code. A person might see one application that required months of effort and not understand how it’s different than a similar (in their view) application that was prototyped and completed in a week.

I’ve seen a few efforts to try and explain how code is written, and I think the huge piece by Business Week was a really good explanation for the layman. It tries to simplify concepts, and does so in a humorous way. I suspect that this piece might actually help our clients and customers gain some appreciation for the difficulty of producing a basic application.

However I think we need some additional articles like this to help explain our database world. While there are some good, basic pieces on what a database is, we don’t necessarily help anyone understand the complexity of assembling disparate data, especially at scale.

I don’t think end users would care much about why database performance can be an issue, but I do think that some well written, easy to read, enjoyable pieces on the issues of writing poor database code might give developers some appreciation for why indexes matter, what RBAR does to performance, and what solutions might help their code shine.

No one wants software written poorly, and no one wants deadlines missed. However the world of software development is complex and the more that we can help our clients understand this, the less time we waste on explanations.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.3MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

August 26, 2015
OT: The Next STEM Generation

Now, it’s not a Star Trek reference. I’m actually breaking a bit from life this weekend to try and move my son forward in life. We’ve arranged a tour of the University of Colorado – Boulder campus, specifically with an eye on the aeronautical engineering program. He’s interested in that area, and we are trying to give him options for university next year.

I’ve hoped my kids would enjoy computers, and they do, but not like I enjoy them. They aren’t interested in building things with computers. They just want computers to do their bidding.

My oldest wasn’t very interested in computers at all, though I was able to teach him some SQL for his college GIS class the last year. We worked on understanding how to query data, but he never really understood the concepts well and needed help regularly. However he did learn enough to be able to alter my queries to meet the changing needs of different data sets.

My middle son is a math/science whiz, and spent a few weeks one summer learning programming at a camp. He built a few small applications, but beyond that he wasn’t interested in learning more. While he like chemistry and aeronautics, programming seems silly to him.

My daughter is the most savvy in moving data around, building web pages for visualizations and working across platforms. She seamlessly will use Windows, OSX, iOS, and Android on any given day across her four devices without blinking. She moves and uses data all the time, but hasn’t ever wanted to do more. She has done well in math and science, and is on pace to get to calculus her senior year of high school.

I do want to encourage kids to try STEM subjects, and feel comfortable. My daughter certainly has felt pressure, and has female friends that feel the same pressure, to not work in STEM fields. I’d like to eliminate that, but more importantly, I want everyone to try the topics and really get a chance to experiment.

If you don’t like STEM topics, that’s fine. Find another area you do enjoy more, but at least give STEM a try.

August 7, 2015
Halloween at PASS–Donate for some fun

This year’s PASS Summit will end on Oct 30, which is just before Halloween in the US. I’m sure lots of people will have some fun on Friday, though I also suspect we’ll see no shortage of people leaving early to get home to spend the holiday with families.

A few of us in the #SQLFamily community are going to have fun with this. There’s a campaign to raise money for Doctors Without Borders, and it’s been named Argenis Without Borders 2.0. We did this last year and raised over $13,000. This year we’ve already gotten $2k in donations are are looking for more.

Argenis is on the hook for a TED costume, and I’ve asked for ideas. So far the Goldmember one looks like the most fun, though I may go Austin Powers instead. However feel free to continue to suggest things to me.

This is a great cause, and it should be fun again. Who knows, maybe you’ll get yourself a great picture with me if you’re there, like one of these.

I’ll probably have some hat, so I might even convince you to wear one and pose with me.

And if you dress up, I’m more than happy to snap a shot with you.

This is all in fun, and for a good cause, so I’ll likely be costumed just for those reasons. The goal for me is to raise some awareness and some money, so I’d ask you to donate if you agree.

Donate to Argenis Without Borders 2.0

July 29, 2015