> From my first exposure to SQL I was optimising databases better than the incumbent dba within a couple of months, and that wasn't even my job. That doesn't m

> From my first exposure to SQL I was optimising databases better than the incumbent dba within a couple of months, and that wasn't even my job. That doesn't mean much, as in the not so distant past (and in some small shops even today) the resident database expert is far from experienced or even technically apt. In fact, it was and still is a job that was assigned internally to someone who happened to have anything to do with the project, who was thus forced to accumulate yet another responsibility.