Database Programming

Newcomers fail at "database programming" because they try to do the backend and the front end at the same time. If you want learn SQL focus on the backend and leave the front end for awhile. Getting the database design in a usable state is the hardest part. This is crucial. learning the theory can be a bit daunting if you don't have help.

However it's a good skill to have. Knowing SQL in addition to whatever language(C#, C++, Java etc), can seriously bump up your potential earnings
 
What makes our system unique, is that we will have 2 invoice addresses plus 1 Delivery address. None of the Off the Shelf system can accommodate our needs. If A address is present, then B address must not print and 1 other field must print. If A address is not present, then B address must print in place of A address and 1 other field must not print.

Dude Sage Evolution should be able to do that. You just need to "customise" it a bit to make it work for you.
 
Newcomers fail at "database programming" because they try to do the backend and the front end at the same time. If you want learn SQL focus on the backend and leave the front end for awhile. Getting the database design in a usable state is the hardest part. This is crucial. learning the theory can be a bit daunting if you don't have help.

However it's a good skill to have. Knowing SQL in addition to whatever language(C#, C++, Java etc), can seriously bump up your potential earnings
Thanks zippy, this is the best recommendation/explanation I have come across on the net, now it doesn't look so daunting anymore :)
 
Everyone's input is valued immensely, thank you. I am going to slowly venture into this field in time, if ever, but for now, I am going to leave this to the professionals :)

My strength is hardware, not software ;) Again, thank you for all your input, there is a lot that came forward for me to think about.
 
Never any harm in dabbling in stuff you don't know ... but it can be very frustrating. When that happens, Stack Overflow is the place to go (www.stackoverflow.com) - usually at the top of all technical question searches. You will be amazed at how much you will learn and how quickly. BUT, that does not mean what you are doing will be good enough for a production environment. The software dev world is orders of magnitude more complex now than it was back in the 1980's and 1990's (I also worked in "xBase" back then - Clipper was the preferred option). There are (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your persepective) many, many ways of developing a system these days, but only a few of them will be scaleable, efficient and maintainable. I don't know how many times I've come across systems in production use at small to medium-size companies that started out in somebody's home at night with a "Teach yourself X in 21 Days" book (replace "X" with your technology of choice). Amazingly, these companies make them work and they limp along, always putting off the rewrite because of the sheer cost and effort of it ... as alluded to by previous posters.

Best of luck with your endeavours.
 
Talking about SQL, is Crystal Reports worth learning or would you go with MS Access?

We're running Sage Evolution and it would be fun to learn how to query the SQL database.

Apologies for hijack.
 
Talking about SQL, is Crystal Reports worth learning or would you go with MS Access?

We're running Sage Evolution and it would be fun to learn how to query the SQL database.

Apologies for hijack.

You can query the SQL database using the management studio. And for reporting you can get the BIC add on module for Evolution.
 
You can query the SQL database using the management studio. And for reporting you can get the BIC add on module for Evolution.

Thank you adinfinitum. Sorry we have Sage 300 ERP so guess management studio isn't included in this version. One of the programmers here uses Access to get information but I thought Crystal Reports might be interesting and have been looking through the various report files.

Buying add on module's is a sore point at work, but thanks for the suggestion :D
 
Thank you adinfinitum. Sorry we have Sage 300 ERP so guess management studio isn't included in this version. One of the programmers here uses Access to get information but I thought Crystal Reports might be interesting and have been looking through the various report files.

Buying add on module's is a sore point at work, but thanks for the suggestion :D

If it runs on SQL then the management studio will be available with that. It is not a Sage product. You may just need to install it from your SQL disks.
 
For those who are interested in a full stack (database, application, front end) there are 2 solutions you should explore.
Firstly, learn Javascript. Just do it ;)

Then look at the MEAN stack. http://mean.io/
Mongodb (Database). Express (Web Application Framework). AngularJS and NodeJS.

Also, for a more integrated stack, look at ArangoDB with FOXX.
https://www.arangodb.com/
This lets you develop your database and an application layer ontop of your database.
Couple that with web technologies and you've got an app!

I've been using both of these in production projects and even got a free ArangoDB t-shirt :D
 
If it runs on SQL then the management studio will be available with that. It is not a Sage product. You may just need to install it from your SQL disks.

Oh cool. Will look into it tomorrow, tks adinfinitum.
 
mysql :whistle:

Everyone has their preference but for relational database projects we use mysql. Tho if you wanna scale you may need a db guy to handle cluster etc.
 
Well the free version of MS SQL (Express) can handle databases up to 10gig iirc. That is sufficient for most small companies and it is a powerful system. But as you say, we all have our preferences.
 
For those who are interested in a full stack (database, application, front end) there are 2 solutions you should explore.
Firstly, learn Javascript. Just do it ;)

Then look at the MEAN stack. http://mean.io/
Mongodb (Database). Express (Web Application Framework). AngularJS and NodeJS.

Also, for a more integrated stack, look at ArangoDB with FOXX.
https://www.arangodb.com/
This lets you develop your database and an application layer ontop of your database.
Couple that with web technologies and you've got an app!

I've been using both of these in production projects and even got a free ArangoDB t-shirt :D

Your laptop has a lot of stickers on it, doesn't it? :D
 
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