Starting to Program
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Coming from a fairly non-technical background and getting into BI via the gateway program (i.e. excel which makes you want to go on to harder, more powerful programs and languages like sql) I've found that actual coding I can do, but what I struggle with is finding resources pegged at a non-geek level regarding network/server configuration tasks.
It's things like:
- multiple domain mapping
- core cmd-line requirements
- security groups/firewalls
- simple how-tos for iis
- framework installations and configurations
Many of these tasks are simple (theoretically) but I find these hard because the writers seem to assume a level of intimacy with the jargon that's way beyond me. I've been working recently on setting up a blog, and the aim was to have a wordpress blog set on an ec2 instance and having two domains (.com and .info) pointing to it with subdomains (steph. and oz.). It was such a nightmare of a task that in the end I paid someone $10 (via fiverr.com an awesome site) to do it since I could not find any resources written at the right level. Of course now I'm having to learn linux cmd-line stuff because the server doesn't have a gui, but at least there's some very simple articles out there on it.
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Keypunch/Show of Hands
And how many decks of cards did YOU drop before you learned to be certain the switch on that machine was set to PRINT = ON ?
(and that there was actually ink printing the sequence number on your card)
IIRC (and I may not) one of those 4 switches centered over the keyboard was the one to look for.
Cursors are useful if you don't know SQL -
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (7/6/2012)
Michael Meierruth (7/6/2012)
Steve,I got a real bang seeing that photo on the right hand side of your editorial. Not many people can say they actually ever used a card punch machine. I can say that I used it and enjoyed it. and was really good at it.. and it brings back some good feelings of the past - like BASIC, FORTRAN, ASSEMBLER and yes COBOL.
Thought a few people would like that. I didn't do cards, but I did do early compiles where I could watch the lines of code compile on the screen. And read them as they went by
Oh yes, memories. Did you know that you could actually run a Burroughs B3500 computer using the aforementioned card punch and the card reader and line printer on the B3500? Actually had to do it twice while stationed in England many years ago.
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mstjean (7/6/2012)
Keypunch/Show of HandsAnd how many decks of cards did YOU drop before you learned to be certain the switch on that machine was set to PRINT = ON ?
(and that there was actually ink printing the sequence number on your card)
IIRC (and I may not) one of those 4 switches centered over the keyboard was the one to look for.
If you have the sequence numbers punched in the cards, then all you needed was a card sorter. Much easier than doing it by hand.
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mstjean (7/6/2012)
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Keypunch/Show of Hands
And how many decks of cards did YOU drop before you learned to be certain the switch on that machine was set to PRINT = ON ?
(and that there was actually ink printing the sequence number on your card)
IIRC (and I may not) one of those 4 switches centered over the keyboard was the one to look for.
If you have the sequence numbers punched in the cards, then all you needed was a card sorter. Much easier than doing it by hand.
Lynn Pettis
Heh... my school didn't have that kinda newfangled toy. I also suspect they deliberately double-waxed the floors in the data center.
Cursors are useful if you don't know SQL -
Never dropped my punched cards - ever.
As for that sequence number, I never knew about these card sorters. But it's a bit like not knowing all of that new stuff in today's technology.
As for the card punch model 029 vs 026, I must say that the keyboard of the 026 looks really awful. It gives me the creeps.
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Michael Meierruth>
As for the card punch model 029 vs 026, I must say that the keyboard of the 026 looks really awful. It gives me the creeps.
I dunno... I think it looks kinda like gramma's car...
Cursors are useful if you don't know SQL -
I've been programming for 25+ years and helped in the DBA realm for ~15 along with system administration of various platforms. Most 3rd generation languages have the similar control structures (except COBOL and FORTRAN), so the language itself isn't the most important thing. If you learn to read and maybe even write it you should be able to pick up what a programmer is trying to do. Unless it is really bad programming, in which case another programmer would have problems as well:). That being said for a DBA I think Visual Basic or BASIC itself would be a good start place. Having worked in COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, C, C++, C#, ADA, Pascal and Java, my preferred language is C# hands down. VB.Net is linked to many things that can be used in other areas (Microsoft Word, Excel...), but C# or Java is what the majority of companies use to write their code.
First learn basic programming structures to understand how to accomplish things. Not all are available in each language, but there are similar constructs.
1) documentation: how to add comments to your code
2) I/O: disk/screen input/output
3) variables: data types, assignment, arrays, basic math functions +-/*%...
3) breaking programs into small pieces: functions, subroutines including recurssion, programming stack
4) loops: for, foreach, while, do while
5) branching: if then else statements, switch or select
6) string manipulation and data transforms (convert double to int, first word in a string...)
7) GOTO: Yes, I'm saying this so they also learn NEVER to do it and recognize that if it is there, it's probably bad code to start
8) error handling
9) classes and structures: If the language supports it classes are the way to go.
10) Try and write an actual simple database application to hold data for a hobby. It should have at least 3 related tables (one code table, one master table, one child table). If you get this working you'll know where to go from there.
Personally I recommend getting a book. Start at your local library and check out a few different languages to see what you like best. I generally get a new book for each version of Visual Studio. Authors have a different style of trying to teach, so if after 30 minutes or so of reading it doesn't make sense, you might try a different author. Visual Studio is a good IDE, but there are others available as well. Visual Studio has a free version (Express) that you can download so you can't beat the price and there are a TON of examples on the internet. Google, StackOverflow and DeveloperExpress are good sites to find answers.
To start either work through the examples in the book or pick assignments you can find online. Or come up with some on your own. To start the classic "Hello World" is obligatory. My favorite one to give newbies is display the top n prime numbers. This can be refined/reworked to see what is most efficient with various tools through step 4. For step 11 it could hold recipes, video collection, song collection, genealogy, book collection...
Good luck in whichever you choose.
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I live in the, "accidental DBA" world and therefore lack the years-deep knowledge to use these systems as well as they are intended. I've maxed out Access and needed something better for crunching business data. But SQL server isn't turnkey with wizards and Northwind and whatnot. Part of the problem with getting up to speed with SQL Server or any given MS technology is that one must have both a good grasp of the the historical taxonomical development of the given MS technology as well as cursory knowledge of current platform-wide practices. And that's tough to build when you're on your own.
To get to the question at hand, I have found www.learnvisualstudio.net to be a very useful tool. In addition to covering the subject at hand, the host tends to chatter and chase concepts upstream a little. That's great with me, because I'm there to learn a broader structure and not just a new syntax for doing the same old thing. Note that this isn't an ad. I pay to use the service and find it very useful as I'm a beginner in the broader ocean of SQL server.
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Robert Domitz (7/6/2012)
You must be a youngster - that's an 029 keypunch! When I punched FORTRAN cards, I used an 026!:-D
(Thanks to http://www.columbia.edu for the image!)
They left out "Unit 0" from the drawing.
--Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally) -
i am looking to learn C# in my spare times and this is the bookmarks to learn C# Basics.
Visual C# .NET for Complete Beginners - a free programming course
Learn all about programming in C#.
Videos : C# Fundamentals: Development for Absolute Beginners | Channel 9
Introduction to Object Oriented Programming Concepts (OOP) and More - CodeProject®
My Fav :
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Jeff, what exactly do you mean by "Unit 0"?
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This isn't a tutorial but has a ton of syntax examples in both VB.NET and C#, comparing them. I've found it useful when knowing how to do something in one and not sure of the syntax in the other. It's also shown me that certain things can be done in both languages that I wasn't taking advantage of.
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