Lessons I Learned from an Old School DBA
The story of how a Data Engineer learned to write SQL
I learned SQL the hard way. I say it was hard, but actually, it was brilliant. Not because I learned how to write SQL from the ground up, but because I learned a valuable lesson about writing code, the joy of learning, and the art of doing.
The Story
It has never been easier to learn anything, let alone SQL. Today, you can simply type into your favorite search engine, “how to learn SQL,” and like magic, you will get hundreds, if not thousands (dare I say millions), of resources to choose from — most of them free too. From some dude with a webcam on YouTube to instructor-led courses by some of the top institutions in the world, the choices are limitless.
Back at the start of my career, when I still had a youthful complexion, no frown lines, and could see without glasses, I couldn’t afford to drop a load of cash on a paid class to learn SQL. I had to learn it myself. I went to the bookstore and bought a book on SQL programming, sat down, and studied it.
I distinctly remember writing the code out by hand on a piece of paper at night, so that in the morning at work (where I had access to a computer), I could give it a whirl.
