A community of more than 1,600,000 database professionals and growing

The Voice of the DBA

Do I Need to Learn Linux and R and Python?

The big changes coming in SQL Server 2017 are the Linux version and the addition of Python as a language used to analyze data. In SQL Server 2016, we had the R language added, and quite a few people have been on crash courses learning R, or worrying about the fact they don't understand how to write an R script. Now many of these same DBAs and data professionals worry that they also need to find time to pick up some Python and Linux.

I really like Python. I spent some time with the language and still dabble here and there. It's a clean, easy to write and read language. My son took an intro CS course this spring in college and we shared some programming thoughts and ideas in Python. If you're interested, I'd recommend the Dive Into Python book, as well as the meeting series from SDTIG. If you want to learn R, I've been dabbling at TryR from CodeSchool. There are also resources from Grant Fritchey and Buck Woody. For Linux, there are tons of resources out on the Internet. I don't have a recommendation, but feel free to leave one in the discussion.

If you are a data professional that works with data scientists or others that might want to incorporate some machine learning or complex analysis inside SQL Server, do you need to learn R and Python? Is that the feeling that you have? Are these languages require to ensure that you can perform your job?

I'd argue that for many of us, we don't need to understand the language or be able to write R or Python scripts that are being run in SQL Server, or even in a tool like Power BI, to support our users. We should understand how to execute these scripts, and maybe how to correct simple typos. A working knowledge of HTML has come in handy many times for me when helping users display their data and a quick change was needed. However, I wasn't the person you'd call to design a complex CSS and interactive HTML pages. I can just fix a few simple mistakes.

You might feel differently, but I don't think most SQL Server professionals, developer or DBA, really need to learn R or Python. Feel free to do so if you like, and I'd put in a recommendation for Python, which I really like, but I don't expect that either one will be a significant part of your job in the future. Learn Linux if you want to experiment with another OS, but for the most part, SQL Server on Linux is just SQL Server. Learn some rudimentary Linux skills, but spend most of your time making sure you understand the SQL platform and you'll be fine.

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.com

Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music.

NEW SQL Clone - version 1 available now!

Create copies of production databases and SQL backups in seconds and save up to 99% of disk space using SQL Clone. Redgate’s new tool removes much of the time and resource needed to create and manage database copies, allowing teams to work on local environments to develop, test and diagnose issues faster. Try it free.

Write, format, and refactor SQL effortlessly with SQL Prompt

Writing SQL is 50% faster with SQL Prompt. Your SQL code can be formatted just the way you like it, you can create and share snippets with your team, and with tab coloring you’ll never deploy to the wrong environment again. Download your free trial.

Featured Contents

How to deploy a database plus static data using SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare

Tony Davis from Redgate

This article from Tony Davis describes how to the use the Redgate SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare GUIs to get the current version of a database schema, and its static data, into version control, and then automate database deployments from the version control system using SQL Compare's command line and PowerShell. More »

Datetime vs. Datetime2

Robert Hartmann from SQLServerCentral.com

Read a short comparison of datetime and datetime2 types. Learn about their structure, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. More »

It’s not you, it’s me (I/O troubleshooting)

Additional Articles from SQLPerformance.com

Monica Rathburn talks about a few of the more common elements she always checks for when troubleshooting I/O problems. More »

From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - Shipping Database Changes–T-SQL Tuesday #90

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral Blogs

This is a good T-SQL Tuesday topic from James Anderson: shipping database changes. It’s especially poignant for me since I... More »

From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - Pester Test Inception and the Show Parameter

Rob Sewell from SQLServerCentral Blogs

My fantastic friend Andre Kamman b | t and I presented at PSConfEu last week and whilst we were there we were... More »

Question of the Day

Today's Question (by Stanley Kapfunde):

Which of the following is not an exact numeric data type?

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

We keep track of your score to give you bragging rights against your peers.
This question is worth 1 point in this category: data.

We'd love to give you credit for your own question and answer.
To submit a QOTD, simply log in to the Contribution Center.

T-SQL Querying (Developer Reference)

Squeeze maximum performance and efficiency from every T-SQL query you write or tune. Four leading experts take an in-depth look at T-SQL’s internal architecture and offer advanced practical techniques for optimizing response time and resource usage. Get your copy from Amazon today.

Yesterday's Question of the Day

Yesterday's Question (by Steve Jones):

I've got this email address in my database: bob@b.net. If I have an email masking function applied on this column, what data is returned to users that see masked data?

Answer: bXXX@XXXX.com

Explanation:

The masking function for emails gets the first character and then includes xxxx@xxxx.com at the end.

Ref: Dynamic Data Masking - click here

» Discuss this question and answer on the forums

Database Pros Who Need Your Help

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

SQL Server 2016 : SQL Server 2016 - Administration

experiment TDE - I am new to TDE. I would like to try TDE on my sand box server. Also Like to try for...

RAM Required to run SQL Server + Web Application + SSIS packages - Production Server with following processes running: REST API hosted in IISSQL Server with Data - Majorly for Time sheet and Other application...

The target database, '', is participating in an availability group and is currently not accessible for queries. - Hi, I keep seeing this error in secondary node of the server. We dont have readable secondary. But the error only...

SQL Server 2016 : SQL Server 2016 - Development and T-SQL

Stored procedure that passes in a string value and returns all occurrences of the search - Years ago, I found a stored procedure that would allow me to enter a string value and it would display...

SQL Server 2014 : Development - SQL Server 2014

Help with backup script - All, I have gotten this backup script from the web. It seems to work but it is overwriting to the...

CTE and UNION performance issue - I am optimizing an inline table-valued function that performs calculations by heavily using OVER, LEAD and LAG. At one stage,...

Multiple Values for Single Parameter in User Defined Function - Did anyone come across this scenario where a developer/analyst comes in and pass multiple values for Parameter so he/she can...

capturing failed commands and their targets.. - So.. I'm working on writing a generic CATCH block what will insert into a log table the following information: The table...

Quicker Way to Get Accurate Row Count - We are currently using SQL Server 2014 (enterprise) for our source system and data warehouse. Our ETL has a row...

SQL Server 2012 : SQL 2012 - General

SQL License instance(s) question; If I have 2 standard instances on one server, do I only need to pay for one license ?....and other variations license questions - I've googled A LOT, and I just cant seem to get the right answer, I really hope this community can...

link to a mdf database - So I created a MS SQL db , but now I cannot link to it. I WOULD like to create a database...

How can I identify employee records with the same hire and term dates? - The table has employee data. EmployeeID, HireDate, TermDate. Some records have the same EmployeeID and the Hire and Term dates...

SQL Server 2012 : SQL Server 2012 - T-SQL

Check multiple condition in sql query - Hi All, I have a table in which customer profile details such as name, address, dob etc are stored. Whenever customer...

Heap vs Clustered Wildcard Search - I am working on converting a heap table to a clustered table by adding a primary key to the identity...

SQL Server vNext : SQL Server 14 - Development

Graph Tables - Thoughts? - Just wondered how much anyone has played with the new Graph Tables (Graph processing with SQL Server 2017). I'm having a...

Reporting Services : Reporting Services

Create a dataset from an existing dataset - Is it possible to create a dataset, write a query, based on the main dataset for the report? or should...

Programming : General

Finding the cause of blocking between processes - We are using the following code Select ER.Session_ID SPID, ER.Blocking_Session_ID BlockedBySPID, ER.Start_Time 'Start', ER.Status, ER.Command, Object_Name (TXT.ObjectID, ER.Database_ID) 'Object', dbo.SQLStatement (TXT.Text, ER.statement_start_offset, ER.statement_en

Data Warehousing : Integration Services

Rowcount SSIS - Dataflow task - I have a data flow task which basically select top 100K records and inserts into a table, i have put...

SQL Server 2005 : Administering

Rename server after renaming host - Hello, I know this seems like a basic question and a lot has been written on this, but I am...

Error during Login Process (to SQL Server 2005) - Hello all, I am using Management Studio to connect to a SQL Server 2005 Standard Ed + SP1. MStudio returns the following message: ------------------------------ Cannot...

This email has been sent to newsletter@newslettercollector.com. To be removed from this list, please click here.
If you have any problems leaving the list, please contact the webmaster@sqlservercentral.com.

This newsletter was sent to you because you signed up at SQLServerCentral.com.
Feel free to forward this to any colleagues that you think might be interested.
If you have received this email from a colleague, you can register to receive it here.