That's definitely true. One cartesian query can ruin your day...
On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 1:22 PM, John Fereira <jaf30_at_cornell.edu> wrote:
> Tim Spalding wrote:
>>
>> I'd consider teaching them how to use SQL directly.
>>
>> I've done it at LibraryThing. I take employees from the simplest
>> SELECTs all the way to a people-who-have-X-also-have-Y self-join in
>> one long hands-on lesson. It doubles as a sort of test, and I've even
>> used it in hiring. LibraryThing's two full-time librarians got there
>> with flying colors; I've had programmers who stumbled. (Not
>> surprisingly they didn't work out.) Once someone understands SQL
>> itself, you can throw a helper, like PMA, at them too.
>>
>> I think there's a real opportunity for empowerment here. Teach a man
>> to SELECT and he'll never have to, um, fish again.
>
> Define "understand SQL". I can't help but be concerned about the adage
> "knows just enough to be dangerous". I've seen some systems brought to
> their knees in terms of performance as a result of a couple of poorly
> constructed queries.
>
--
Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding
Received on Sun Aug 10 2008 - 09:39:17 EDT