Are the posted questions getting worse?
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SQL Kiwi (1/27/2012)
Google indexes scarily fastNot always 😀
-- Gianluca Sartori
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Gianluca Sartori (1/27/2012)
SQL Kiwi (1/27/2012)
Google indexes scarily fastNot always 😀
That's because they probably censored it. Google and scary in one sentence, what did you expect?
Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP -
Brandie Tarvin (1/27/2012)
So, question of the day. How do you help people who refuse to be helped? People who are resistant to your suggestions of "test it" or "try this".I'm talking forum peeps AND people you may know locally.
Thoughts?
On a forum: I point out that we're all volunteers here who sacrifice some of our time (or a lot of our time) to help other people; and that I'm not going to type the entire solution for them out. If they want that, they can hire a consultant. (and then I post my consulting fees 😀 ;-))
In real life I'm a bit more patient. But I try explaining that by searching for the answers himself, he will benefit more in the long-term.
"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life"
Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP -
Evil Kraig F (1/27/2012)
Roy Ernest (1/26/2012)
Somebody please put the brakes on the THREAD. It keeps moving from one random topic to another. It does not even care who gets run over with these topic changes.VRRRRRMMMMM!!!!!
On yet another note, what is it, "Spoon Feed me my job" day?
I could have used that yesterday when I was staring at what should have been a fairly simple task.
Until you have a head cold and apparently can't think straight. I could have used a spoon full of chicken soup...
-Ki
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Kiara (1/27/2012)
Evil Kraig F (1/27/2012)
Roy Ernest (1/26/2012)
Somebody please put the brakes on the THREAD. It keeps moving from one random topic to another. It does not even care who gets run over with these topic changes.VRRRRRMMMMM!!!!!
On yet another note, what is it, "Spoon Feed me my job" day?
I could have used that yesterday when I was staring at what should have been a fairly simple task.
Until you have a head cold and apparently can't think straight.
Yes, but at least you would have admitted you were having a bad day and should know the answer but needed help helping yourself. Some people can't even do that.
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And then you get those who swear that the code they posted is the exact code that they're running, which mostly works but returns data in the wrong order, whereas the code they posted is so riddled with syntax errors that it would take longer to fix them than to just scrap and rewrite.
Yes, I had someone swear to me yesterday that the following code (well, slightly paraphrased but with essence intact) not only parsed correctly, but ran and that the reason I couldn't get it to work must be because I was using SQL 2008, not SQL 2008 R2
SELECT DISTINCT Count ( * ) ID AS 'Individuals'FROM SomeTable
WHERE Variable1 in (p) and Variable2 in ('3dhqsoekksa') and Variable3 in (11)
Order By ID DESC
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverabilityWe walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass -
GilaMonster (1/27/2012)
And then you get those who swear that the code they posted is the exact code that they're running, which mostly works but returns data in the wrong order, whereas the code they posted is so riddled with syntax errors that it would take longer to fix them than to just scrap and rewrite.I'm just going to come right out and say it: the posted questions are getting worse.
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Jack Corbett (1/26/2012)
Okay, Jason don't report me. Just found this in an SP:IF 1 = 1 -- Placeholder in case there is an actual conditional on this blockThere is code in the IF block, but I love stuff like this. I assumed the THREAD was safer than twitter.
I *love* it!
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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GSquared (1/27/2012)
Jack Corbett (1/26/2012)
Okay, Jason don't report me. Just found this in an SP:IF 1 = 1 -- Placeholder in case there is an actual conditional on this blockThere is code in the IF block, but I love stuff like this. I assumed the THREAD was safer than twitter.
I *love* it!
This post is just a placeholder in case I find something sensible to say. 😀
I kindly invite you all to add it to your bookmarks and check it regularly. That could eventually happen one day. 😀
-- Gianluca Sartori
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GilaMonster (1/27/2012)
My favourite 'not enough information' recently was at SQLTeam. Question basically stated "The following code throws an error. Please helpDim CPDHourUpdate As SqlDataSource = New SqlDataSource() CPDHourUpdate.ConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("Application").ToString() CPDHourUpdate.UpdateCommand = "UPDATE UserDetails SET CPD_Hours = CPD_Hours + 2 WHERE UserId = @userid" CPDHourUpdate.UpdateParameters.Add("UserId", Session("UserID").ToString()) Dim rowsAffected As Integer = CPDHourUpdate.Update()"
That's it, nothing else. Now the update looks syntactically valid, and I don't know VB enough to tell if there's something wrong with the rest. I asked for the error message and the table definition as without those I wouldn't be able to help.
The reply was "So don't answer then??? Just a suggestion...."
And my answer to that would be, "Excellent suggestion. Please, everyone take this suggestion and do not answer this question."
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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Brandie Tarvin (1/27/2012)
So, question of the day. How do you help people who refuse to be helped? People who are resistant to your suggestions of "test it" or "try this".I'm talking forum peeps AND people you may know locally.
Thoughts?
Stop trying to help them.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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GSquared (1/27/2012)
Stop trying to help them.
Personally, I am growing more and more fond of Celko's approach with each passing day.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
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sturner (1/27/2012)
GSquared (1/27/2012)
Stop trying to help them.
Personally, I am growing more and more fond of Celko's approach with each passing day.
I understand the temptation, truly do.
Just don't succumb to it.
Or (karma) next time you go to the doctor and say, "I'm not sure what's wrong, but I just don't feel good", he might prescribe cyanide. 😛
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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GSquared (1/27/2012)
Brandie Tarvin (1/27/2012)
So, question of the day. How do you help people who refuse to be helped? People who are resistant to your suggestions of "test it" or "try this".I'm talking forum peeps AND people you may know locally.
Thoughts?
Stop trying to help them.
Let me rephrase. Someone who comes from another IT job in which the things we do in SQL are not "normal" nor do they make sense has trust issues with believing that "yes, it does actually work that way."
How do you go about fixing the trust issues or teaching them to let go of all the instincts that tells them "this is wrong?"
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Brandie Tarvin (1/27/2012)
GSquared (1/27/2012)
Brandie Tarvin (1/27/2012)
So, question of the day. How do you help people who refuse to be helped? People who are resistant to your suggestions of "test it" or "try this".I'm talking forum peeps AND people you may know locally.
Thoughts?
Stop trying to help them.
Let me rephrase. Someone who comes from another IT job in which the things we do in SQL are not "normal" nor do they make sense has trust issues with believing that "yes, it does actually work that way."
How do you go about fixing the trust issues or teaching them to let go of all the instincts that tells them "this is wrong?"
That's a little different than refusing to be helped.
I find it very helpful in that kind of situation to be able to explain the differences between the two paradigms.
For example, I often find developers moving into T-SQL horribly confused by "Case", since the functionality is completely different in procedural code. They think of it as a multi-branch IF, which it is in, for example, VB.
So, when I run into that, I explain the difference, and how to achieve the end result they want.
The human mind understands by comparing data against other data. We describe colors by what they're like or not like, for example. Coding paradigms work the same way.
There are three basic calculations on any given datum:
1. Is it the same as something known,called an "identity".
2. Is it similar to something known.
3. Is it different from something known.
If someone has never seen an apple, but has seen other types of fruit, you could compare similarities and differences from, for example, oranges.
All data works on gradient scales. The real world doesn't really have a full identity or a full difference. Cars are "completely different" from bananas in the human mind, but they're both objects made of energy, that exist in space, and pass through time. Poems are different from planets, but they both begin, change, and end in time, and they both are affected by and impose effects on the energies and spaces around them. And so on. So work on degree of identity, degree of similarity/dissimilarity, and degree of difference.
Follow that pattern, and you can explain anything you understand to anyone, given the time and effort to do so.
Think of the usual way to explain indexing in databases. When you do that, you explain similarities to known things, like phone books or indexes at the back of books. Similarities, identities, differences, degrees thereof.
Also very helpful in educating someone on any subject, including this one, are three basic barriers to learning:
1. Terminology.
2. Connection to the real world (mass).
3. Sequential concepts (gradient).
You can't tech someone what indexes are if they don't know the word "index", unless you define it.
It's really hard to teach someone how to code without providing examples (real-world connection or mass).
Forget about teaching advanced material to someone who hasn't grasped more basic material on the same subject.
So, when going over similarities/differences/identities, make sure you clarify needed terms, cover basics before advanced material, and provide examples that are in some way tangible.
Those basics apply to any and all forms of education. Everything else about education can be extrapolated from them.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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