5 ms·

I have a PhD in computing (of some sort, I forget) and I know about 3 SQL commands. I've been developing for decades, and I never need to interact with database

by jmmcd 13y ago

I have a PhD in computing (of some sort, I forget) and I know about 3 SQL commands. I've been developing for decades, and I never need to interact with databases. Like everyone in my field of research, I keep my data in text files.

dragonwriter 13y ago
> I have a PhD in computing (of some sort, I forget) and I know about 3 SQL commands. I've been developing for decades, and I never need to interact with databases. If you were a developer that did interact with databases (but not a DBA or specifically a "database developer"), you could probably get by with the four that correspond to CRUD operations directly (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE), so knowing "about 3" isn't all that bad.
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  Technically, an UPDATE is a DELETE and INSERT. so if you only knew SELECT, DELETE, and INSERT, you could do crud.
  - prodigal_erik 13y ago
    In practice, SQL access control is pretty simple-minded compared to relational algebra, and a server may not notice that your DELETE and INSERT are equivalent to an UPDATE which only modifies columns you're authorized to.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    I was referring to what you could practically survive with as an application developer who didn't control the databases involved; for the reasons prodigal_erik states in their reply, DELETE + INSERT, while you can do equivalent transformations to UPDATE with them, aren't going to be a general-purpose replacement for developers of real-world applications against real-world databases that they do not control.
    - chris_mahan 13y ago
      I agree with you. I was just saying that it is possible to do crud with just three sql commands. Not friendly, I agree, but possible.
untog 13y ago
Sure- if using databases isn't an everyday task for you it's understandable. But this guy used them every day, without knowing what was actually going on when he called .Save()

by jmmcd 13y ago

dragonwriter 13y ago

> I have a PhD in computing (of some sort, I forget) and I know about 3 SQL commands. I've been developing for decades, and I never need to interact with databases. If you were a developer that did interact with databases (but not a DBA or specifically a "database developer"), you could probably get by with the four that correspond to CRUD operations directly (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE), so knowing "about 3" isn't all that bad.

chris_mahan 13y ago
Technically, an UPDATE is a DELETE and INSERT. so if you only knew SELECT, DELETE, and INSERT, you could do crud.
- prodigal_erik 13y ago
  In practice, SQL access control is pretty simple-minded compared to relational algebra, and a server may not notice that your DELETE and INSERT are equivalent to an UPDATE which only modifies columns you're authorized to.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  I was referring to what you could practically survive with as an application developer who didn't control the databases involved; for the reasons prodigal_erik states in their reply, DELETE + INSERT, while you can do equivalent transformations to UPDATE with them, aren't going to be a general-purpose replacement for developers of real-world applications against real-world databases that they do not control.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago
    I agree with you. I was just saying that it is possible to do crud with just three sql commands. Not friendly, I agree, but possible.

untog 13y ago

Sure- if using databases isn't an everyday task for you it's understandable. But this guy used them every day, without knowing what was actually going on when he called .Save()