How soon can SQL be learned by a noob

krazyq

krazy Techie
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Minnesota
Hey guys,

Need advice.
I think I might need to learn SQL to advance my career by giving me more opportunities to stay at my current job longer.
I've been doing Help Desk level Tier 1/2 for a while with a little application support.
I've seen people using SQl and it doesn't make any sense to me.
I've always told myself that coding isn't for me and never will be.

I'm doing basic support on a current project and they needed someone who new SQL so I was barely any help and it made me feel like crap, I really wanna help.

How long could it take for someone like me with no coding or language experience
I know it can vary depending on dedication and stuff however I'm wondering if there's a realistic ETA, weeks/months/years?
I'm a college dropout , I always struggled in school but some how I got this far so I'm hoping there's something still left in me.
Any guidance on where I should start?

Thanks
 
SQL isn't that hard if you know how to work with data.

You'll want to figure out if you want to learn T-SQL (Microsoft's spin on SQL), MySQL, or Oracle. Those are the 3 big players in SQL. They're all pretty much the same as far as syntax, joins, etc. (basic functionality). Where they mostly differ is how to do stored procedures (functions), built-in functions into the language, and table/database structure (mainly terminology differences).

As for how long...really depends on your learning speed, self-teaching speed (or going by tutorials and such), and how much you're actually dedicated to learning it.

Learning any programming language is all about dedication - it's just like learning a new spoken/written language. The more you practice at it (and more time you dedicate to trying to learn), the better you get.

As for learning...check out CodeAcademy's courses: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-sql

BTW, just because somebody is good at coding...doesn't mean they're great with SQL. I personally dislike SQL as it's somewhat confusing to me..but I'm very good with OO languages like C# or stuff like JavaScript.
 
To be honest, I wouldn't recommend as a first language for someone just starting out. I find the syntax can be pretty darn confusing for more complicated queries.

Simple stuff like "SELECT blah FROM table WHERE thiscolumn = myname", that's ok. That you can learn in less than a day.

More complicated stuff like conditional joins on different tables etc, that can get messy real quick.

It's also not terribly exciting stuff :p I think it takes a particular kind of person to want to do that. Other languages like Python or Javascript have applications for regular joes like me that make it worthwhile to learn. Major database manipulation? Hardly any use at all outside of corporations.
 
It's also not terribly exciting stuff :p I think it takes a particular kind of person to want to do that. Other languages like Python or Javascript have applications for regular joes like me that make it worthwhile to learn. Major database manipulation? Hardly any use at all outside of corporations.

Takes a data nerd :p.
 
I feel so lazy and the fact that I already have a job makes it even harder.
I will give that a link a try, one of my friends sent me the same link.
I'm so distracted with NFL, Fantasy football, and games....it's bad.
Thanks for all your input, I really hope I can push my self and at least give all of this a try
 
Sql is actually pretty simple. While attending one of my college courses I needed to learn it and I got most of it with one video on youtube. I don't remember the name of the exact video but if you do a search on Youtube you will definitely be able to find something that works for you. Sql is really all about organizing data so once you begin to grasp how to insert data and how to do simple queries you will be in good shape. Hope this helps!
 
Looks like I'm in the clear for now.
I got moved to a new project that's dealing with Azure.
They will want me to work with the AD part of it.
They've also given me a bunch of Content Management work, this makes more sense to me so I'm actually able to pay attention during meetings
 
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