RE: If you were going to learn...

["Lydia Wong" <lydiaw -at- fpoint -dot- com>]

Bonnie asked about learning about databases:

> ...about database technology, would you:
>
> (a) Learn Microsoft Access?
>
> (b) Take a class?
>
> (c) Read a book?
>
> (d) Give it up because you have to be a "techie" to understand it?

I'd probably do (b) if you have the time and money, but (c) would be fine.
As for which database "language"/application, whichever is easiest and you
have access to, to begin with. Many basic concepts are the same no matter
what. I learned most of what I know about databases (which I will be the
first to admit, is limited), back in library science graduate school. We
used DB2 (or something like that) to learn about and create our own
databases and small database applications.

This was back in the day--microcomputers were just making their presence
known. But the concepts I learned from that class have stood me in good
stead ever since.

As for (d), like most of what many of us write about, this isn't brain
surgery or rocket science. You do not have to be a "techie" to understand
databases. As with many powerful things, the concepts are pretty simple.

Good luck, Bonnie! I hope you find time to learn more about databases. They
are so widely used, you are wise to learn more about them.

Lydia
-----------------------------------
Lydia Wong
Technical Writer
FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
www.fpoint.com


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