Don,
Excellent article. Even today, after 6 years, I still do the looping you
mentioned.
Rao
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 1:50 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
Do you want a paper to say you are marginally qualified to be a DBA or do
you actually want to learn database administration?
If it is the latter, my opinion is:
0) Learn as much as you can about Oracle in general. Being an exceptional
developer means understanding what your code does inside Oracle, so start
there.
1) Learn SQL*Plus, PL/SQL, and whatever else you need to do your job (e.g.
Java, XML, Pro*C++, etc.).
2) As for the "real DBA" aspects, start with the development oriented
aspects - explain plan, tkprof, SQL trace, and the easy stuff first, then
graduate up to how the shared pool (&library cache), buffer cache, and other
SGA elements work internally.
3) Learn how to design efficient applications - basic modeling,
normalization, denormalization, data integrity mechanisms, the impact of
different algorithms, etc.
[Not necessarily in strict order...either above or below this comment.
there are some "functional dependencies", but parallelism increases
throughput!]
By now, if you have learned this stuff and are actually practicing it, your
DBAs will *LOVE* you! Find a willing mentor among them. Perhaps become the
DBAs' unofficial liason to the development staff. You might consider
holding "brown bag" lunch training sessions with the other developers to
spread what you have learned...
4) Learn the basics of how Oracle stores database objects and how to
properly size objects and realistically predict and accommodate object
growth. Learn the importance of conscientious analysis in this respect.
5) Learn the Oracle architecture.
loop
Read the concepts manuals.
After finishing each section, go discuss it in detail with your
mentor(s)
Practice what you can on your sandbox system - at home or at work.
end loop;
-- Just when you think you know it all, read it again and discover what you
-- missed or misunderstood the first time around! Is this an infinite loop?
Yes!
-- Purposely! After 12 years, I still do it! The loop just takes longer to
execute now...
6) Refine and expand on your knowledge of tuning, recovery, ad infinitum...
If you just started doing Oracle development a few months ago, this is not
an unrealistic plan. It might take a year. It might take more - or perhaps
even less. You have a real chance of being invited into the "DBA club" at
your organization in midstream! I've seen it happen.
This approach will build your real skills a LOT faster and much more solidly
than "cramming for OCP exams" would ever do! You shouldn't need to "cram".
If you actually learn this stuff, you can breeze through them! Much more
importantly, you will have real experience! You will also obtain something
that is much more important in the long run than the "knowledge" necessary
to pass the OCP exams - actual understanding!
Knowledge is like data. Understanding is like the ability to process data.
Data is important, but without the ability to process it efficiently, it is
useless! In addition, knowledge (data) becomes outdated, but understanding
is, by its very nature, adaptive.
[Odd and tangentially related aside: Ever had to take a trig class and
memorize a lot of trigonometric formulae? Half-angle formulae, double-angle
formulae, etc? Ask anyone who really knows mathematics if they have all
these memorized. Some do from sheer repetition of their use, but many
don't. These formulae are simply "knowledge". "Real" mathematicians and
scientists don't have to clutter up primary memory with all this trivia!
They know one simple equation, Euler's equation, know how it works and can
derive any of them in a minute or so!]
Believe it or not, some of the most important and difficult things DBAs do
is educate developers, advise developers, perform code and design reviews,
and to (try to) compensate for poor development and application design
practices - with things like tuning obscure instance parameters, shared pool
size, and other "trick of the trade". Granted, there are some essential DBA
tasks - backup and recovery, physical layout, Net8 configuration, etc. -
that are not development-centric, but many of the best DBAs I've ever seen
were, at one time, outstanding developers.
Contrary to official propaganda, OCP certification is not the holy grail.
It isn't a Nobel prize. By itself, it is a learner's permit. It may also
be useful to get over the threshold for that first DBA job interview. As
soon as you feel comfortable with SQL and PL/SQL, take that exam. Take the
others in what seems to you to be their nature order, as you progress.
Just my very opinionated opinion,
-Don Granaman
[Certifiable OraSaurus]
PS: What does "X" DBA years @ 45-90 hrs/week translate to in human years?
----- Original Message -----
To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 9:55 PM
>
> Hello friend , Gurus
>
> I just start my Oracle developer job in April 2001, I feel interesting
in
> Oracle Dba jobs but my current job is stuck with only application
> development .How can I build up my DBA skill if I did't have chance on
doing
> the related jobs ?
>
> But I manage to build up a small system running testing in my home with
> Duron 750 + 128 Ram and 10 gig normal IDE , After I install my win2kpro
> ,oracle OEM and the database with pre-configuration option. everthing go
> smooth on that.
>
> I have manage to get a TOAD trial version to install in my win2k too ,
but
> what now ? Is there any pratical or tutorial on this ? Or taking the OCP
> exam and exam cram to study will help ?
>
>
>
> Raymond fall asleep in waiting for the Q.
>
> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> --
> Author: Raymond Lee Meng Hong
> INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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