It's been quite a while since my last post. This doesn't mean that I haven't done anything, but more that I've actually been working on "real life" issues, rather than studying.
Over the last few weeks I've had a few assignments with customers, so my MEEP has suffered. I have tried to read a little at night and over weekends, but the progress has slowed.
I started Dan Tow's "SQL Tuning" and worked my way through the first 8 chapters. I must admit that the diagramming etc. didn't come easy for me. In an attempt to "consume" more MEEP I've put the book back on the shelf, and picked up Cary Millsap's "Optimizing Oracle Performance". This book has give me a lot of insight into the raw trace file, and how to understand what is collected during extended SQL trace.
I've also had use of details from the book in trying to solve a performance issue for a customer I visit regularly. It has helped me understand the explain plans and how they are manipulated better.
I hope to finish the book over the Easter break and then take a stab at "Oracle Design" by Ensor and Stevenson.
As far as the MEEP curriculum, I still have a few of the newer books left. In addition to "Oracle Design" I also have to read "Relational Database Index Design and the Optimizers" by Lahdenmäki/Leach, finish Dan Tow, the YAPP paper and also Toon Koppelars "Building Robust Applications in a DB centric Environment".
The bad news is that my MEEP period is over at the end of March. Right now it's not looking pretty for me!!!!
I'll return when more books have been completed. Until then, enjoy your Easter.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Time flies....
Monday, March 3, 2008
Hitting the wall !
I've never run a marathon, but last year I made my best effort (so far). With weekly trips of 17K I felt I was on track. In my preperations I talked to friends who has finished the dreaded 42,125K and heard about "hitting the wall". Their description was kinda like "everything was OK, according to schedule. I was tired but doing OK and then all of a sudden my body was drained. Everything hurt and I couldn't focus on running anymore". Even though I never pushed my body to that extent, over the 17K runs I imagined what it would be like. The ironic point is that most were within the last 10K or less.
As far as MEEP goes, I'm afraid that I'm close to hitting the wall! I've looked over the initial MEEP schedule, and I'm pretty close to finishing what was mentioned in that first curriculum. I'm confident that I could have finished that within the first 3 months, looking at it from where I stand now. The ironic thing about this is, that the scope of my MEEP has changed. The finish line has been moved while I've been running.
Now another 4 books (1741 pages) have been added, moving the finishing line so far out in the distance that I seriously doubt that I can cross it within the allotted time.
Further more I'm worried as to the direction I'm going. In a real marathon the course is clearly marked, people line the streets and at tricky intersections special markers indicate the direction to run. As for MEEP, I don't see the course as clearly. We have all been given the challenge to read and increase our knowledge, but the structure has not been clear to me at all times. I'm afraid that I spend too much time on one thing, and won't make it through something even more important. On the other hand I'm forced to move forward at a breathtaking pace if I'm to have even a remote chance of finishing all the material within the time set aside for this.
The hands-on exercise was actually really good. Even though it sounds like we hugely disappointed Mogens, us MEEP'ers all agree that it was very good and we all learned new things there. As for James Morle I was greatly impressed. I only knew his name from peeking at his book and from chapter 8 of "Tales of the Oak Table". I was perhaps expecting a bit more Bill Gates, both in appearance and age but what I found was perhaps more Ewan McGregor. A really cool guy probably not much older than myself with alot of knowledge and still giving us the impression that we were all seeing eye to eye. A pleasant surprise :)
As a final note on my progress, I'm halfway through Dan Tow's "SQL Tuning". I find this book very "dry" and have opted to switch it for Cary Millsaps "Optimizing Oracle Performance". Desperately scrambling for progress and knowledge. Perhaps also hoping that the advice of the Cheshira Cat in Alice in Wonderland holds true "if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there”
As far as MEEP goes, I'm afraid that I'm close to hitting the wall! I've looked over the initial MEEP schedule, and I'm pretty close to finishing what was mentioned in that first curriculum. I'm confident that I could have finished that within the first 3 months, looking at it from where I stand now. The ironic thing about this is, that the scope of my MEEP has changed. The finish line has been moved while I've been running.
Now another 4 books (1741 pages) have been added, moving the finishing line so far out in the distance that I seriously doubt that I can cross it within the allotted time.
Further more I'm worried as to the direction I'm going. In a real marathon the course is clearly marked, people line the streets and at tricky intersections special markers indicate the direction to run. As for MEEP, I don't see the course as clearly. We have all been given the challenge to read and increase our knowledge, but the structure has not been clear to me at all times. I'm afraid that I spend too much time on one thing, and won't make it through something even more important. On the other hand I'm forced to move forward at a breathtaking pace if I'm to have even a remote chance of finishing all the material within the time set aside for this.
The hands-on exercise was actually really good. Even though it sounds like we hugely disappointed Mogens, us MEEP'ers all agree that it was very good and we all learned new things there. As for James Morle I was greatly impressed. I only knew his name from peeking at his book and from chapter 8 of "Tales of the Oak Table". I was perhaps expecting a bit more Bill Gates, both in appearance and age but what I found was perhaps more Ewan McGregor. A really cool guy probably not much older than myself with alot of knowledge and still giving us the impression that we were all seeing eye to eye. A pleasant surprise :)
As a final note on my progress, I'm halfway through Dan Tow's "SQL Tuning". I find this book very "dry" and have opted to switch it for Cary Millsaps "Optimizing Oracle Performance". Desperately scrambling for progress and knowledge. Perhaps also hoping that the advice of the Cheshira Cat in Alice in Wonderland holds true "if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there”
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Tales Of The OakTable (TOTOT)
When going through all this literature about Oracle, I can't help being impressed and scared of the knowledge and complexity that is displayed.
The book mentioned in the title, was very insightful and I must say I enjoyed it. I found it easier to read, because it keeps referring to real-life examples, but don't be fooled. There are still plenty of details and knowledge in it, and many details that I can't completely comprehend.
As far as my personal progress goes I probably can't see what I've learned so clearly, because I keep being exposed to new areas of Oracle and realize how much I HAVEN'T learned yet :).
I've had another session with Thyge, where different areas were covered, and also a few practical exercises were given me. One was relating to the insert vs. insert /*+append*/ and nologging. How big of a difference does it make etc.
After that Thyge also gave me some "homework" regarding restore of a DB. I must admit that I haven't completed that task yet. My first attempt rendered my DB useless, as I had not backed all the necessary files up, before dropping the DB. After that I've been sick for 4 days now, so hopefully I'll get to it sometime this week.
As a final note there will be a "mid-term challenge for MEEP'ers in Miracle" next week. The program will include some "hands-on" on a real project, arranged by James Morle. I really look forward to this as hands-on always sticks better with me than strictly theory.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
To Master or not to Master
The next book on my list was "Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL *Plus" by Lex de Hann. I'm happy to report that I finished this book over the past week.
It starts out with very basic SQL syntax and simple examples, and the first 5-6 chapters were a breeze. I have covered all these things many times in my previous jobs, and felt I knew the topics pretty well. My hope was that the rest of the book would be as easy, but I must admit that a few areas touched upon, were not all that easy. For instance chapter 9.6 "Analytical Functions and Windows" seemed very theoretical and since I've never used this in a real-life scenario it, along with Nested Tables (chapter 12), needed re-reading. I've asked Thyge to discuss these topics with me this coming week (along with a few areas like Cluster Tables, Delayed Block Cleanout).
In this past week I've done some practical exercises regarding logging vs nologging. Thyge has also given me a task to restore a database, to gain some "how do I..." experience.
I'll be starting the "Oracle Insights, Tales from the Oaktable" this coming week. According to the schedule I should read the "9i Concepts Guide", but since the printed copy is still at B2C, I'll skip ahead and go for the book. I've covered just over 200 pages of the concepts guide via PDF, but will hold out for the paper version.
It starts out with very basic SQL syntax and simple examples, and the first 5-6 chapters were a breeze. I have covered all these things many times in my previous jobs, and felt I knew the topics pretty well. My hope was that the rest of the book would be as easy, but I must admit that a few areas touched upon, were not all that easy. For instance chapter 9.6 "Analytical Functions and Windows" seemed very theoretical and since I've never used this in a real-life scenario it, along with Nested Tables (chapter 12), needed re-reading. I've asked Thyge to discuss these topics with me this coming week (along with a few areas like Cluster Tables, Delayed Block Cleanout).
In this past week I've done some practical exercises regarding logging vs nologging. Thyge has also given me a task to restore a database, to gain some "how do I..." experience.
I'll be starting the "Oracle Insights, Tales from the Oaktable" this coming week. According to the schedule I should read the "9i Concepts Guide", but since the printed copy is still at B2C, I'll skip ahead and go for the book. I've covered just over 200 pages of the concepts guide via PDF, but will hold out for the paper version.
Monday, February 4, 2008
There's somebody out there!
I'm not alone anymore. Apparantly somebody has read my blog. Big thanks to Matthew Butler for his encouraging words. I'll cerntainly listen to them and re-read parts of T. Kytes book again, as needed.
As a matter of fact I've been challenged by Mentor-Thyge to give a presentation of Oracles memory structure and the underlying processes later this week. I believe I have an OK understanding of this, but am also sure he can ask MANY questions that I will not be able to answer.
A few of us "MEEP"'ers have discussed our 1st month with the program and a few things came up. The main source of concern/frustration was the scope of the program. Not so much whether it was 3000 or 4000 pages, but more to have a set list of books that should be covered. The reason for this discussion was a few mails regarding 3 new items on the MEEP-list, not originally included by Jan. 1st. Further more there was also talks about a few books for MS/SQL server.
I presented this to Mogens, who in ususal style respondend "...the first E in MEEP is for Extreme.."! Basically, suck it up!!
My point for bringing it to his attention was not to reduce the ammount of reading, but more to get a final scope defined. I believe it's easier to envision one finishing a race, if one knows the distance to cover.
Kinda feels like this:
Don't get me wrong.. I actually enjoy learning something new. It challenges me and I like pushing myself (and also the occaitional push from others). I only feel that if I'm going to be evaluated on my progress after 90 days of MEEP, it's nice to know what topics are to be covered.
As far as my progress report .. here goes. I've finished the T. Kyte book last friday and have read the first 4 chapters of Lex de Haan's "Mastering Oracle SQL...". I actually knew this stuff, so that gave me some confidence back. I'm sure though, as I continue through the book I'll encounter many new aspects of SQL.
As a matter of fact I've been challenged by Mentor-Thyge to give a presentation of Oracles memory structure and the underlying processes later this week. I believe I have an OK understanding of this, but am also sure he can ask MANY questions that I will not be able to answer.
A few of us "MEEP"'ers have discussed our 1st month with the program and a few things came up. The main source of concern/frustration was the scope of the program. Not so much whether it was 3000 or 4000 pages, but more to have a set list of books that should be covered. The reason for this discussion was a few mails regarding 3 new items on the MEEP-list, not originally included by Jan. 1st. Further more there was also talks about a few books for MS/SQL server.
I presented this to Mogens, who in ususal style respondend "...the first E in MEEP is for Extreme.."! Basically, suck it up!!
My point for bringing it to his attention was not to reduce the ammount of reading, but more to get a final scope defined. I believe it's easier to envision one finishing a race, if one knows the distance to cover.
Kinda feels like this:
Don't get me wrong.. I actually enjoy learning something new. It challenges me and I like pushing myself (and also the occaitional push from others). I only feel that if I'm going to be evaluated on my progress after 90 days of MEEP, it's nice to know what topics are to be covered.As far as my progress report .. here goes. I've finished the T. Kyte book last friday and have read the first 4 chapters of Lex de Haan's "Mastering Oracle SQL...". I actually knew this stuff, so that gave me some confidence back. I'm sure though, as I continue through the book I'll encounter many new aspects of SQL.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In the home stretch
The book is excellent! I have covered so much material that I didn't know much about a few weeks ago, and now I feel that my general knowledge of Oracle has increased many fold. Things like memory management, diversity of database tables and index types are all areas covered in the past chapters, and I believe that I now understand the basics of these topics.
And even though many may not believe me, I actually find the writing to be great also. It doesn't feel like a "heavy duty" technical book. Little comments like "That's a pretty deep thought there: the database already knows the answer to any question you might ask it, before you ask it." (found in chapter 7) makes it enjoyable to me.
I'm on the "home stretch" now. I've just finished chapter 11 and hope to complete the book by the end of the week. I've marked out a few things that I'd like to discuss with my mentor, but overall I believe I'm doing OK. There was a little "brain glitch" when reading about nested tables. I mean what was that all about?!?! I understand that you can connect a parent/child relationship between 2 tables, but failed to see why this was better/more efficient to the p_key/f_key method. This is one of the areas that I must rely on Thyge or another colleague to enlighten me.
PS. Even though the book caries a title with "Expert" in it, I don't suppose that I will become an expert from just reading it (unfortunately).
And even though many may not believe me, I actually find the writing to be great also. It doesn't feel like a "heavy duty" technical book. Little comments like "That's a pretty deep thought there: the database already knows the answer to any question you might ask it, before you ask it." (found in chapter 7) makes it enjoyable to me.
I'm on the "home stretch" now. I've just finished chapter 11 and hope to complete the book by the end of the week. I've marked out a few things that I'd like to discuss with my mentor, but overall I believe I'm doing OK. There was a little "brain glitch" when reading about nested tables. I mean what was that all about?!?! I understand that you can connect a parent/child relationship between 2 tables, but failed to see why this was better/more efficient to the p_key/f_key method. This is one of the areas that I must rely on Thyge or another colleague to enlighten me.
PS. Even though the book caries a title with "Expert" in it, I don't suppose that I will become an expert from just reading it (unfortunately).
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Flying dutch again?
It is pretty evident that keeping a blog updates is not one of my strong points. The purpose of my scribbling is to present my opinion on how my Oracle knowledge increases, and what kind of problems I run into.
I've just finished chapter 6 & 7 (Locking & Latching and Concurrency & Multi-versioning) and the best way to describe how this went, is the reason for the title.
Last year I was flying KLM from Amsterdam to Chicago. The flight itself was fine, service was as expected, but when it came to the TV-programs i struggled a bit. I found myself trying to decipher dutch, with a combination of danish, English and German. The overall storyline was OK, but I was missing most of the details.
I have a good general knowledge of why and how Oracle uses locks/latches, but my brain can't seem to comprehend the technical details. As for concurrency I think my overall understanding of the problem is a little bit better. This is mentioned in several text books as a general problem. When it comes to HOW this is handled in Oracle, it again feels a little like I'm watching the world through my grandma's glasses. I can see the outline, but details are blurry.
I suspect that this will become clearer as my working experience with Oracle increases.
This past week I also held a short session with Thyge, who has been appointed as a kind of mentor for me. This gave me a chance to ask a few of those questions that I couldn't really solve on my own. My biggest challenge overall is probably the PL/SQL syntax used in a few of the examples, ie "How does 'decode' work?"
Also, he was able to share a more "practical" approach to some of these issues. How would he identify a problem on a running system etc.
I expect as the book delves into more technical detail, that I'll use Thyge more and more for questions on different aspects of Oracle.
I've just finished chapter 6 & 7 (Locking & Latching and Concurrency & Multi-versioning) and the best way to describe how this went, is the reason for the title.
Last year I was flying KLM from Amsterdam to Chicago. The flight itself was fine, service was as expected, but when it came to the TV-programs i struggled a bit. I found myself trying to decipher dutch, with a combination of danish, English and German. The overall storyline was OK, but I was missing most of the details.
I have a good general knowledge of why and how Oracle uses locks/latches, but my brain can't seem to comprehend the technical details. As for concurrency I think my overall understanding of the problem is a little bit better. This is mentioned in several text books as a general problem. When it comes to HOW this is handled in Oracle, it again feels a little like I'm watching the world through my grandma's glasses. I can see the outline, but details are blurry.
I suspect that this will become clearer as my working experience with Oracle increases.
This past week I also held a short session with Thyge, who has been appointed as a kind of mentor for me. This gave me a chance to ask a few of those questions that I couldn't really solve on my own. My biggest challenge overall is probably the PL/SQL syntax used in a few of the examples, ie "How does 'decode' work?"
Also, he was able to share a more "practical" approach to some of these issues. How would he identify a problem on a running system etc.
I expect as the book delves into more technical detail, that I'll use Thyge more and more for questions on different aspects of Oracle.
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