re: question oracle

[thutmose]

Hi,


I have noticed that oracle consultants, architects and so forth are in demand. What I have been hearing is that finding an oracle position is difficult with no experience. My background is desktop support, Helpdesk but I am contemplating taking an oracle developer program. I am already familiar with shell scripting UNIX and wanted to add some PL/SQL developer skills. Of course no one has a crystal ball but is it easier to go as a oracle developer with UNIX skills rather than a DBA.

 

[Dagon]

The basic programming skills you know from shell scripting will help with PL/SQL, but the most important thing is to be able to understand and write SQL. There is no equivalent in shell scripting, so that it where DBAs may have an advantage.

 

[BJCooperIT]

Both developers and DBAs need to master SQL. But, developers need stronger PL/SQL skills IMHO. There are several factors to consider. One is that on the whole, DBAs pull in a higher salary. They also get the 2:30am phone calls and the annoying repetitive questions that you have already experienced at the Helpdesk. In my experience, DBA consultants are under more pressure to be immediately productive on a client site with little guidance or documentation. They also work later or come back in at night because their work is often done after the developers go home. On many occasions I have seen where, because clients seldom understand what a DBA does, the DBAs were able to state how much time they needed to accomplish a task, whereas the developer's deadlines were dictated. The daily content of a DBA's job does not compare to a developer's.

More importantly, do you want to work with the database or application development? Consultant developers often are involved in the analysis process and deal with users. We often are used as mentors to client staff. We are the coders! We learn business applications like Sales, Payroll, Manufacturing. (I know waaaaaay too much useless stuff about TV advertising!). We need to understand business rules and enforce them in a user friendly way. As a developer, most clients expect you to have front-end skills as well. Are you interested in learning forms?

We are held up to intense scrutiny since our job is so visible to the users. Often our deadlines are impacted by factors completely out of our control like: "The superuser decided to go fishing next week so can you have this ready to test by Friday morning?" or "The DBAs are going to work on the database so it will be shutdown Monday!". (Sorry guys, but we all know that has to happen sometimes)

Just something else to consider. Good luck! (select * from life where brain is not null)
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000