Over the years I've found that I'm an unusual kind of .NET developer... as I really don't use databases directly either personally or professionally.

Sure BrendansStudentLoans.com has a SQL 2005 backend with a dozen quick stored procedures... but other than that, the only real DB programming I've done was in the 2002 timeframe when taking a database programming class back at DSU and where I became quite proficient at writing PL/SQL... so much so that the teacher ended up using my homework assignments and tests as the answer keys and lost only a single point during the semester... only because I ended up making the same mistake as everyone else on the final.

Why is this relevant? Because I'm seeing this week just how rusty I've gotten and how things have passed me by.
This week I am taking MOC 2779: Implementing a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database (for free) so as to learn a bit more about the data world and wow... there are a lot of things I'd heard of... but never used... and even more things that I'd never even heard of.

Wow.

More so it's been interesting during practices and labs when we've got to write some (at times) complex queries... and I completely forget SQL syntax for a join or how to do other SQL operations from a hand written query. It's especially interesting as SQL is so different than the way I think... I tend to be a more procedural person than simply not a declarative person.

That reminds me... where the hell is the Intellisense in SQL Server Management Studio? Yes I know there are other tools that offer it... but come on... this is a Microsoft tool... released in 2005!

So taking this course has been a bit of a humbling experience... but also one that reminds me that there are areas I need to keep up on and try to use a little more if for no other reason but then to keep up on it.

Read the complete post at http://ihatelinux.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-little-i-know.html