Re: Looking for an online mentor

I'll check out the django girls, thanks. There's also a group of women
coders in DC who hold a lot of trainings and events. I'll see if they have
a level I python coming up.

You made me think about something about the GUI's: In my old job I used
alteryx because we were working with datasets from 20M-250M. When I got
laid off, I lost access to alteryx (unless I want to get a free trial). I
asked a guy who's pretty familiar with my skillset what I should be using,
R? He said to look for an open source gui/alteryx alternative. I found one
called KNIME that I like a lot.

But, what I'm gathering is, you think this is a crutch too. Will Python
enable me to do the same things that I do with that kind of big data
processing program? Should I be aiming for that as the ultimate rather than
"mastering" KNIME (or whatever, just looking to design my curriculum). At
my old job when I asked the same guy about SQL and how some of the coding
bits we did in the tool configuration looked like SQL, he said alteryx is
SQL on crack.

I need SOMETHING to use for analysis for the tests I'm going to have to
take when I job hunt so I'm exploring KNIME right now and doing the data
manipulation into what I'd do in access for analysis. I know, I need stats
too. You were educated as a biologist? I was educated as a pianist, writer,
and historian, lol. I have a lot to learn.

However, we're veering away from postgres, which may not be appropriate on
the forum. I'd like to continue the conversation, though.

On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 7:38 PM, Adrian Klaver <adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com>
wrote:

> On 12/08/2016 04:19 PM, Metare Solve wrote:
>
>> Sorry, I got on so many lists yesterday. I'm really not that dense.
>>
>> I have absolutely no language programming skills and it is very very
>> frustrating. I can HTML and that's it. I desperately want to develop the
>> skills but whenever I try on my own, I hit the same wall as I do with
>> SQL. I'm just bad at the deep dives into code and really need some
>> honest help. I kind of had this kind of help at my old job but I got
>> laid off on 11/30 and I don't think it's appropriate to ask them anymore.
>>
>> SQL experience: Only MS Access. I know it sucks, but it's all my boss
>> "let" me use (it didn't occur to me for a while to pursue it on my own
>> after she told me "no" for whatever odd reason she had). But! I can use
>> that GUI like a champ. I used Access for all of my data crunching, my
>> biggest record set was 600k so I didn't need anything more powerful. The
>> reason I think I can learn SQL with just a bit of guidance is I know the
>> concepts behind "where" and "group buys" and "unique," etc, but I miss a
>> ; and get an error and then get frustrated.
>>
>
> GUI's only get you so far. At some point you will need to dive deeper to
> get what you. I am mostly a self taught programmer(biologist by training)
> so I understand the hill you are facing. The language I use is Python,
> mainly because to me it made sense. For you it might be a good choice as it
> is quite prevalent in the data analysis world. There are a lot of places to
> turn to to learn how to use it. My suggestion for seeing if it is something
> you can use would be to start here:
>
> https://tutorial.djangogirls.org/en/
>
> Go through at least the Introduction to Python part. The rest has to do
> with Django, Web framework built using Python.
>
> If you want an immersion into programming the events that Django Girls put
> on are a good place to start:
>
> https://djangogirls.org/events/
>
> I have seen it action at my local Linux Fest and it is impressive.
>
>
>
>
>> Purpose of the project:
>>
>> Eh, a bunch of things.
>>
>> - The project is to build my Tableau skills, for one. There are a lot of
>> (work from home) jobs out there that call for Tableau skills and I know
>> the best way to learn something is to do it. I think using the SQL
>> database as a source will enable me to learn a lot of things in one
>> stroke.
>>
>> - The project will also give me a product (eventually multiple) to embed
>> on a website when I start looking for "clients," or what have you. Just
>> starting a portfolio.
>>
>> - I have two projects, one of them is to analyze crime rates around the
>> moon phases. Just a question my dad once posed as a science project that
>> I blew off. Now seems kind of interesting to me to pursue. Will give me
>> date experience, mapping if I want it, can go down to the precinct
>> level, etc. The other is some data I've been collecting for about 15
>> months on a pixel dragon game I play. I want to build a dashboard to
>> manage my lair/income/value, etc. That is definitely where the SQL
>> database comes in. I think the moon one is just data blending.
>>
>> - To give me intellectual stimulation because I am a nerd.
>>
>> Just a note, I'm a female gen x with a master's degree in library and
>> information science. I took a database design class in grad school and
>> it was the biggest waste of money and time. lol, I wish I'd had these
>> project ideas then, I could have gone to the teacher with them.
>>
>> Meta
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 6:59 PM, Adrian Klaver <adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com
>> <mailto:adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com>> wrote:
>>
>> On 12/08/2016 03:46 PM, Metare Solve wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm looking for an online mentor, someone I can chat/email and ask
>> questions of. Maybe "meet up" and have a direct chat. I've been
>> trying
>> to get into SQL for years and I just... have... problems. It's
>> very
>> frustrating and at this point in my career is going to keep me
>> from
>> getting a new job. (I was just laid off on 11/30.)
>>
>> I have a project in mind: I want to build an SQL db to house some
>> datasets and sit a tableau dashboard/storyboard on top. A data
>> engineer
>> at my old job said that would be his preferred method, and I
>> think it
>> would be a useful project to learn SQL.
>>
>> I know this is the pgadmin support and not a postgres, but I'm
>> technically going to be using pgadmin so it's tangentially
>> related ;)
>>
>>
>> Actually this is the Postgres mailing list.
>>
>> FYI, the pgAdmin list is here:
>>
>> https://www.postgresql.org/list/pgadmin-support/
>> <https://www.postgresql.org/list/pgadmin-support/>
>>
>> Though pgAdmin is often discussed on this list(pgsql-general).
>>
>>
>> Any input, even on the project?
>>
>>
>>
>> What language(s) do you plan to program in?
>>
>> What studying on SQL have you done?
>>
>> What will the purpose of the project?
>>
>>
>>
>> thanks,
>> meta
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Adrian Klaver
>> adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com <mailto:adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Adrian Klaver
> adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com
>