Junior Devs, Don’t Avoid Learning SQL, You Will Need It
SQL is Everywhere
Whenever I meet junior developers, usually, they either have no idea about SQL or they have very limited, practically-unapplicable knowledge.
Why? Don’t they learn SQL during their studies to become software engineers? I cannot tell for sure, but I have the feeling that they believe that SQL is outdated technology/skill. The same reason might be why modern software developer bootcamps don’t include SQL in their published curriculum. They might think that SQL is not sexy technology and hence might hinder student conversions.
To me, this is all wrong. Junior devs that they don’t know SQL should not ever be considered by hiring managers. Hiring process should test the SQL skills of
the candidate developers and if they fail, they should be rejected.
One might argue that SQL is a skill for the backend developers. I would argue that it is an essential skill for any developer. It is like English. You have to know English if you want to become a software engineer. You will need it, sooner or later, no-matter whether you are a frontend or a backend developer.
I am not talking about sophisticated vendor-specific SQL tools and techniques. I am talking about the basics, such as the following:
