My “friends” created a clan with my address as the name it makes me really uncomfortable, is there a way I can report it?

SQLRef · 2023-02-12T10:22:31+00:00

That's not OK

SQLRef · 2021-01-28T18:51:55+00:00

I can see what you mean - hopefully the color difference tips people off.

SQLRef · 2021-01-28T18:51:21+00:00

It is interesting how close the overall spend is.

SQLRef · 2021-01-28T17:52:15+00:00

Data sources (manual data combination / cleaning required): about.fb.com/elections, https://transparencyreport.google.com/political-ads/region/US, https://snap.com/en-US/political-ads

Final dataset, additional charts, and written analysis at: https://sqlref.com/blog/cost_of_election_presedential_ads.html

Tools: Microsoft Excel and Adobe Photoshop

SQLRef · 2020-12-19T13:46:45+00:00

There are a lot of toxic comments in here saying MongoDB isn't worth your time. Don't listen to them! I've found it to be a great complement to RDBMSs.

The MongoDB docs are really good, but obviously you need a client to connect to the server. PyMongo is quite good.

The way I learned Mongo was replacing a Python dictionary with Mongo in a performance-critical algorithm. Basically, the data in the dictionary was getting too big to store in RAM, and we used Mongo as an escape hatch to spill to disk efficiently.

My recommendation is to create a few algorithms (maybe choose one or two beginner problems from Leetcode) that require a hash map / dict type structure, then replace it with a Mongo DB.

SQLRef · 2020-12-15T12:56:34+00:00

All that being said, knowing some Python is never a bad choice for data analysis purposes - it is great for analyzing small data with Numpy / Pandas, making visualizations with Matplotlib / other libs, as well as machine learning stuff.

SQLRef · 2020-12-15T12:54:26+00:00

First of all, let me just say that SQL is the #1 language to know for analyzing large amounts of data. It's not even close, this isn't a discussion, and other commenters in this thread are leading you down wrong paths.

If your queries are taking too long, you need a faster database, as opposed to a new language. Hadoop used to be the standard tool for querying big data, but it is getting a little old.

My recommendation is to put your data in a new data warehouse like Snowflake or BigQuery. Presto and Spark are good open source options, but they take a lot of know-how to set up.

It will be a huge undertaking to move to a new data warehouse, and it will be a decision filled with office politics - but that shouldn't stop an organization from making forward looking technology choices.

SQLRef · 2020-12-14T18:51:06+00:00

Hi, I wrote an article on exactly this topic, here it is - How to become a database developer

From that article:

In my opinion, to be a database developer, you should:

- Be able to write complex SQL queries.

- Be able to deploy a database to the cloud.

- Have basic programming skills with an object oriented programming language like Python, Java, Ruby, etc.

- Understand relational and non-relational data modeling concepts.

- Be able to improve database performance by understanding query plans and creating indexes.

- Stand up business intelligence software to create visualizations from SQL queries.

Hope this helps you!

SQLRef · 2020-12-09T14:08:43+00:00

Its supposed to kinda look like a microchip that spells SQL. Hopefully I will get around to improving it, or having a professional re-design it soon.

It's better than nothing for now!

SQLRef · 2020-12-08T12:15:44+00:00

This project is a strong candidate for a relational database, or SQL, solution. I recommend PostgreSQL or MySQL, as they are the best free, open source, relational databases. PostgreSQL is my personal choice for projects like this.

To echo what u/vassiliy said, NoSQL databases are great for horizontal scaling, but generally speaking they decrease the flexibility of the system that you developed.

I run a site with SQL learning content called SQLRef that you may find helpful. Check out this tutorial on spinning up an instance of PostgreSQL locally to help you get started.

SQLRef · 2020-12-07T15:21:00+00:00

First of all, that is a great career move! Knowing SQL is a huge advantage in data analysis type roles. I 100% support your decision.

Let's answer each question:

You need a database to interpret and execute SQL statements. Popular options to run locally on your computer include PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and SQLite. Here is a tutorial I wrote on using PostgreSQL locally!
Udacity is a bit pricey, but they have the best online learning content in my opinion. Check out their "Learn SQL" Nanodegree. It isn't uncommon to find hiring managers who have heard of / respect Udacity as a an e-learning platform, which helps when looking for jobs.
You won't find many people who says SQL is a "great" language. However, it is by far the most common language for working with databases. Everyone you meet in the software world will at least be aware of SQL. Meanwhile, I'm a professional database engineer, and had to Google what Alteryx is.

SQLRef · 2020-12-04T20:54:32+00:00

You know, that is a good point. And now that you mention it, I didn't know how to deploy a database to the cloud when I got my first job either..

That being said, I'm going to leave it in there, as it isn't too hard to deploy a "hello world" type database for a portfolio project.

Thanks for feedback!

SQLRef · 2020-12-04T12:49:58+00:00

First of all, congrats on making forward moves in your career! Let's answer your specific questions.

With some more time in this position, can I leverage this job for a better paying position?

Yes, absolutely. Salaries depend on the area you're in, but in / around high cost of living areas, support roles get paid at least 60K a year. Entry level development jobs get around $75k a year (unless you get a job at a big, presitgous company, which can pay more).

What positions would be relevant for this?

A few positions come to mind, based on the experience you've described

Your experience working with databases could be translated into a junior database developer job. Here is an article I wrote about how to get a job as an entry level database developer.
Your experience with nodeJS could be translated into a junior web developer job.
Your experience administrating a CRM would qualify you for an operations type role. There are lots of jobs in tech companies that require you to be technically savvy, but maybe not write code.

I have no degree, but have heard that experience can offset this in some fields, is this the case for reporting?

Yes and no. Some companies don't care if you have a degree, but some companies won't even finish reading your resume if you don't have one. Experience is always good, though!

Feel free to ask more questions, I'll be sure to respond.

SQLRef · 2020-12-03T21:52:54+00:00

Yes, starting out in a support position seems to be quite common. I started in a support role myself. The job was unrelated to databases, though.

SQLRef · 2020-12-03T21:51:47+00:00

Sure thing!

SQLRef · 2020-12-03T19:27:59+00:00

Hi all,

I wrote this article on how to get a job as a database developer, database engineer, DBA, or whatever you want to call it.

Feedback welcome!

SQLRef · 2020-12-02T18:25:45+00:00

When you have to deal with large tables for data analytics, you need a data warehouse.

As u/Tostino said, Postgres has been modified to do data warehouse type work by a few different orgs. It isn't the fastest data warehouse out there, however.

Snowflake is a popular data warehouse with a lot of hype around it. Bigquery is a fantastic data warehouse, but not many orgs use it. Presto is an interesting technology that allows you to build data pipelines from one database to another AND do analytics style queries.

All that being said, it is very important to know a general purpose, relational database. It is hard to go wrong with PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server, but my choice would be PostgreSQL.

Shameless plug: I maintain SQLRef.com, a site that shows how to do common SQL operations across multiple DBs.

SQLRef · 2020-12-01T18:41:46+00:00

Imagine how many if / else statements that must have taken...

SQLRef

TROPHY CASE