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Training: MySQL 5.0 for Developers

I’m in a little debate with our sales people. We have one of the new MySQL 5.0 for Developers courses scheduled for June in Melbourne. Yes, the course is available in Europe and the US also!

It appears that in some areas there’s more interest in DBA courses than in Developer courses. That’s not new, as we used to have a week long Using (Dev) & Managing (DBA) course and people were allowed to sign up for just the DBA part.
Quite a few did, and interestingly enough most of those were completely out of their depth before coffee time on their first day. Of course, there’s some stuff that are only relevant for either Developers or DBAs, but many things are important to both – and that’s what I’m talking about.

So, based on this and similar experiences, I conclude that there’s something wrong with the self-assessment. People reckon they know stuff, when they actually don’t. And I can appreciate that problem… after all, how do you know what you don’t know? Another possibility is that our course description is wrong. Let’s take a look at the specs…

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

  • Describe the MySQL client/server architecture
  • Understand the steps necessary to invoke MySQL client programs
  • Utilize the general-purpose mysql client program to run queries and retrieve results
  • Perform queries and analysis of data utilizing the MySQL Query Browser graphical user interface (GUI)
  • Explain the MySQL connectors that provide connectivity for client programs
  • Select the best data type for representing information in MySQL
  • Manage the structural characteristics of your databases
  • Manage the structural characteristics of the tables within your databases
  • Utilize the SELECT statement to retrieve information from database tables
  • Utilize expressions in SQL statements to retrieve more detailed information
  • Utilize SQL statements to modify the contents of database tables
  • Write join expressions in your SQL statements to obtain information from multiple tables
  • Utilize subqueries in your SQL statements
  • Create views utilizing SELECT statements to produce “virtual tables” of specific data
  • Perform bulk data import and export operations
  • Create user defined variables, prepared statements and stored routines
  • Create and manage triggers
  • Use the INFORMATION_SCHEMA database to access metadata
  • Debug MySQL applications
  • Configure and Optimize MySQL


I’ll admit, it’s open to interpretation. But can we do better?
I suggested we should put some sample certification questions on-line for each course component, to create a self-assessment system. Would people bother spending a bit of time on that? Do tell me please. Feedback is good!
Please also tell if you reckon you have a better description for any of the above, something that better defines the skills developed.
Thanks.

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