• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

SQL Antipatterns question - Database programmers vs Software programmers, the role of ORMs

 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 282
Eclipse IDE PHP Java
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
As a software developer, I always feel a little embarrassed for myself when I have to write some SQL and forget how to do something basic like an inner join. Do you think it's possible to be both a good database programmer and a good software programmer? Or are the two domains too complex for any one person to be an expert in both?

Also, with ORMs like Hibernate becoming more and more popular, do you think the role of the "database programmer" is becoming obsolete?

Thanks.
 
author
Posts: 32
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Michael Angstadt wrote:As a software developer, I always feel a little embarrassed for myself when I have to write some SQL and forget how to do something basic like an inner join. Do you think it's possible to be both a good database programmer and a good software programmer? Or are the two domains too complex for any one person to be an expert in both?


Well I can tell you that no matter how much I program in Java or in SQL, I keep a collection of links to reference guides handy. I added a dropdown list of these links to my browser toolbar. There's too much to memorize, so make sure you keep resources close to you.

Also, with ORMs like Hibernate becoming more and more popular, do you think the role of the "database programmer" is becoming obsolete?


The benefit of an ORM is to speed up development, but it often produces very sub-optimal SQL code. Inevitably after you develop an application you find a few bottlenecks where you have to peel away the ORM abstraction layer and write the SQL by hand. This is called a Leaky Abstraction. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html

Some people try very hard to use the abstraction layer no matter how much it fails them. Or they try to compensate for bad code by adding more power to their server. But neither of these are an economical decision.
 
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic