Page 1 of 1 [ 8 posts ] 

EXPECIALLY
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Oct 2011
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 701

11 Nov 2011, 2:46 pm

I am certainly not a prodigy.

Nerdy enough to understand basic programming and smart enough to learn C++(although I haven't attempted it yet).

I know that database programmers earn more but HOW MUCH HARDER IS IT?

I have *decent* math skills, FWIW.

Just decent.



oddone
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 6 Sep 2010
Age: 52
Gender: Male
Posts: 352

11 Nov 2011, 4:45 pm

It isn't harder, but you are talking about business computing rather than academic computing. So you spend more time learning about your clients' needs and processes before you can implement something which can help them.

I posted a link to the stanford database course here a while ago. It's very basic and doesn't deal with production sized databases, but is a useful introduction to SQL nevertheless.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

11 Nov 2011, 5:44 pm

In some ways database programming is easier. If one uses SQL there is no procedural programming. One sets up selection or insertion rules with respect to a relational database. The "logic" is implicit in the relations and constraints on the data.

ruveyn



AngelKnight
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 May 2011
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 749
Location: This is not my home; I'm just passing through

11 Nov 2011, 8:10 pm

Hard to compare, but I can say that good database engineers are generally worth the money because their solutions keep working even as a dataset grows larger and larger. Primarily because these folks thought about scale ahead of time and planned for it.

So, since all database engineers start as bad, ignorant database engineers and get better from there [1], I wouldn't absolutely count on a higher starting salary.

[1] or not...



MDM
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 30 May 2010
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 126
Location: Montana, USA

11 Nov 2011, 8:16 pm

In my personal opinion it's easier as a broad category.


edit: database programming that is



Last edited by MDM on 11 Nov 2011, 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oodain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,

11 Nov 2011, 9:08 pm

SQL is quite easy to get a basic grasp of,

tracking inventory and certificates is quite easy (all i have had to do)


_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//

the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.


mcg
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 538
Location: Sacramento

11 Nov 2011, 10:23 pm

Relational division can be extremely mind bending, even when you don't have performance, scalability, and data consistency issues to worry about. A 10 year old can learn imperative programming, but you would be hard pressed to teach him relational algebra. Certain complex reporting queries are by far the hardest part of my job as a web developer, and I work on a highly concurrent application.



zer0netgain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Mar 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,613

14 Nov 2011, 9:18 am

In a simple sense.

Computer programmer....the guy who codes Excel as a program to operate at all.

Database programmer....the guy who designs Excel templates to take inputted data and crunch it into something a client needs.

The later simply programs within the framework of existing software.

Of course, Microsoft has Access, and all I ever did with that program was use it's features to take inputted data and render reports that were useful to the customer's need.