Reputable database training

Question

Hello-

I asked this over on Superuser and it was suggested I try this here:

Can anyone recommend a quality source to learn databases? I am changing careers and have no background in computers but this is what I have chosen to do now.

I was thinking of taking an intro course at a community college but I have no problem teaching myself with a book and some software. I am looking to accelerate my learning curve and don't want to spend an entire semester on an introductory course if there is something better out there.

Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

Edit:

Thank you for the feedback. The MS site and Oracle look promising.

I am pursuing a career in software development. I have taken C++ and C# at a community college and was accepted to a masters program for the spring. What level of database knowledge/implementation is required to program in C++ at the master's level and not get handed your lunch?

I guess I need to know how databases are used in programming. I don't have the common core of experience in order to explain the question more thoroughly without tangentially departing into illusory ideals of a programming career.

At any rate, what you have provided is enough to get me going and it will, I am sure, uncover further areas of interest.

Thank you kindly.

Answer 1

There's a whole lot of aspects of "learning databases":

• administering databases
• designing databases (modeling)
• implementing databases (might require adding business logic into triggers and stored procedures).
• using databases (and this might be 'writing a query' to aspects of data mining)

And then there's what type of database. Most people these days assume RDBMS, but there's the push towards NoSQL and tuples stores, etc.

There's no one good answer without a little more information about what you're trying to do.

Answer 2

I assume your goal is to get a job, since you mention you are changing careers.

I understand you wish to accelerate your learning curve. Make sure you do lots of hands-on work, then, to make sure you know how to do things and have skills in databases. The skills, as they say, pay the bills.

I don't know what your background in computer programming, computer science, or information science / managed information science is. If you have some background into those topics, you might be able to make it into the stuff I recommend below.

Most databases are relational in businesses. Depending on the business, they run different datbases. The two really big ones are Oracle and SQL Server.

I've known a couple of friends who learned databases (and other enterprise software) by going online and reading as much documentation as they could put their hands (mouse?) on the Oracle and SQL Server websites, and for other enterprise software. They went and applied for jobs, had enough business sense / charisma, could read/write American business English well, and were good enough to get the job with little/no experience, and have done very well. It pays their bills, and is a stepping stone to bigger things. You might be able to do the same. Go on the Oracle or Microsoft websites, and grab the documentation. Read as much of it as you can, circle words you don't know, try to find the definitions. Find a local guru (that's the main advantage of the community college, they have smart people with communication skills who can help), and talk with them.

If your a tremendous reader, you could do this in a month.

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EDIT:

As to how much "database" knowledge you need to know to get into your master's...

It depends on the program; I'm going to assume your'e going for a professional program and not a academic one. Depending on the master's program, you may/may not need to know databases. Consult your professor or advisor to see if this is something you could tackle right away.

You need to know, ultimately, how to "talk" to a database. Think of this like trying to do business with folks in a foreign country:

• You'll need to learn the language (relational databases use a language called SQL; make sure you know how to formulate a basic query (SELECT), and modify the data in the database (INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE)).

• Make sure you know the culture (what is a table, what is a row, what is a column, what is a tuple, what are keys (foreign/primary/candidate/alternate/super), what are triggers, what are the normal forms, what is an ERD diagram, what is relational theory)

• Make sure you have safe transportation (learn APIs to communicate with the database in C++ and C#. Learn how you can run SQL queries on the database from your app and get resulting data back inside your app. Perhaps learn about ORM tools and how to get/set data that way).

The above is what an intro course covers.

Answer 3

The IEEE Computer Society has some online Element K database courses available for members. IEEE runs memberships by the calendar year. Professional membership dues are $50 for a half year and $99 for a full year of professional membership. Student memberships are $40 and $20 for full and half year, respectively. This might be less than the cost of one course.

ACM has some online database courses in their catalog also. They also use Element K, so it seems likely they are the same courses. A full membership is also $99 per year, student is $19 per year. (Their membership year starts when you join.)

Answer 4

In addition to what people here would consider as database-related jobs (DBA, database developer, data modelling analyst), there are a lot of semi-technical jobs around that refer to themselves as "database people". In particular, you get report analyst -- often using tools like Crystal Reports, Cognos, SSRS -- and business analysts who work on large customer databases, often defining more how the data should be used in various marketing activities than doing much coding. So it would be up to you to decide if you wish to have a more "business" aspect to your career goal, or to work in data entry/management, or do development and design, or to become a specialist admin certified in a particular vendor's software.

In all cases, however, given you start from scratch, some understanding in how relational database systems work would be beneficial. Someone mentioned Element K courses. Personally, I've found the SQL Zoo interactive online course particularly engaging, and have used it with new staff who had to get up to speed with SQL skills in a short time. Also, this tutorial looks well done. For self-study, I recommend the Head First book series, as in Head First SQL. All these recommendations are extremely SQL-centric, though.

Microsoft also offers tutorials that go with Access and SQL Server Express, but I'd warn not to become locked in. SQLite is a free and extremely lightweight RDBMS, which is perfect for trying things out, either using a programming language (if you know one -- if not, I recommend Python).

As for recommending a provider, you're not even saying which country you're in (though from mentioning "community college" I guess it's the US), what your budget and mobility are like etc, so it's hard to decide. Maybe a mentor or advisor at your community college could help?