Re: PostgreSQL Training

Amy,

As a user from a non-techie background, I feel your
pain. In fact, it was limitations in MS Access that
got me using PostgreSQL.

You are seeing one of the downsides of open source
software, which is that learning is self driven to a
large extent. But you can benefit from the fact that
PostgreSQL is highly standards-compliant; any generic
course or materials on SQL or relational databases
will be applicable.

Other features of PostgreSQL have their equivalents
elsewhere. For example, the procedural SQL language
pl/pgsql was modeled on Oracle pl/sql. While pl/pgsql
does not implement many of the features of the Oracle
equivalent, any basic introductory materials on Oracle
pl/sql will get you off to a flying start with
pl/pgsql.

Most popular programming languages have some sort of
interface available, so those languages can be used to
create applications that use PostgreSQL. In fact, MS
Access works well as a front end for PostgreSQL, using
ODBC. Just go to
http://gborg.postgresql.org/project/psqlodbc to find
what you need to get started. And you can easily
migrate your Access database to PostgreSQL using the
Database Migration Wizard that comes with PGAdminII:
http://pgadmin.postgresql.org/pgadmin2/pgadmin2.php

So far as installing and administering PostgreSQL,
your best shot is to use a package. Different types
of packages are available, depending on which
operating system you are using. The packages are set
up to automatically handle most of the installation
and setup for you, with little driving necessary.
That will get you off and running with the least
effort. You will find that default configurations
will be plenty for someone migrating from MS Access:
you can leave the fine points for later.

In other words, don't be put off by the lack of
courses. There are plenty of materials available;
besides the official documentation, there are plenty
of other helpful guides and howtos (look for links on
http://www.postgresql.org), there are a number of good
books, the mailing list archives are full of
searchable discussions of just about any problem you
might encounter, and let's not forget the friendly and
helpful people on these lists!

Comments on other choices: commercial choices will
lead you to much expense, complexity of
administration, and vendor lock in. MySQL: well, just
search the mailing lists for much discussion of the
many shortcomings of that product when it comes to
handling mission critical data.

So, by all means give PostgreSQL at try. It's not as
hard as it looks, and you won't regret it.

HTH,
Jeff

--- Amy Young <Amy_Young(at)hilton(dot)com> wrote:
> Bret,
>
> Thanks for voicing your opinion. I'll second it as
> loudly as I can.
>
> I work for a small 5 member team in a major
> hospitality corporation.
> Our team has a mish mash of responsibilities (help
> desk, tool design
> through MS Excel and MS Access, and corporate
> reporting). We are just
> pushing the limits of MS Access capabilities with
> the amount of data we
> are getting pushed to us for our corporate
> reporting. The amount of
> data is only going to grow and we realize we NEED to
> move to a SQL
> server of some kind. Cost containment is a huge
> factor, so the
> free-ware aspect of PostgresQL is extremely
> enticing. However, only 1
> person on our team has ANY experience with SQL
> servers and none with
> PostgreSQL. We originally started investigating
> MySQL, but found it to
> be slower than the convoluted work around we've
> developed in MS Access.
> Further investigation revealed that it may be due to
> how we had the
> server set up. Then, someone suggestions
> PostgreSQL.
>
> I have been reading what I can, and while I
> understand some of the
> concepts, and I am still mostly floundering my way
> through "Greek". I
> need a strong foundation in the basics. I had found
> the MySQL class and
> have added that to my goals for next year. However,
> it will take some
> strong arguments to convince my superiors to send me
> to training for
> something that will "sort of" apply to what we are
> doing in the office.
> So my options are: use MySQL instead or don't go to
> training.
>
> In the mean time, I will investigate the "21 day"
> book (I have used the
> series many times!) and hope the PostgreSQL
> community will recognize the
> need for some training classes (The certifications
> are optional as far
> as I'm concerned, though I recognize the power of
> certifications since I
> used to teach at New Horizons Computer Training
> Center. I just want
> someone to hold my hand and walk me through the
> entire process so I can
> learn the lingo. Then, I can figure things out on
> my own). And I'll be
> asking as many questions on the list server as I
> can.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Amy Young
> Sr. Revenue Analyst
> Memphis, TN
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgsql-novice-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org
> [mailto:pgsql-novice-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org] On Behalf
> Of Bret Busby
> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 1:09 AM
> To: pgsql-novice(at)postgresql(dot)org;
> pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org
> Subject: Re: [NOVICE] PostgreSQL Training
>
>
> On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Bryan Encina wrote:
>
> > Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 15:06:05 -0800
> > From: Bryan Encina <bryan(dot)encina(at)valleypres(dot)org>
> > To: 'Bruce Momjian' <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us>
> > Cc: pgsql-novice(at)postgresql(dot)org
> > Subject: Re: [NOVICE] PostgreSQL Training
> >
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster

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