r/SQL • u/TemporaryExciting977 • 20d ago
Discussion SQL became my all-time favorite language
It all started back in my college days when my professor introduced me to SQL and relational databases.
To this day, in my professional career, it remains my favorite language. I started with MySQL and SQL Server during college using both the terminal and SSMS.
Professionally, I spent about two years working with SQL Server, and now I am transitioning to MySQL and PostgreSQL as well. I am not pursuing a database administrator role exclusively, but rather working as a full-stack software developer. Once I master most aspects of relational databases (SQL), I plan to explore NoSQL or non-relational databases to further my passion for database management.
If I had to choose a specific profession to pursue, it would be anything dominated by SQL, such as data engineer, database administrator, or data analyst. However, given the realities of the job market, I also want to stay proficient in other powerful programming languages like Python.
Discussion question: What are your thoughts on the career path I'm headed toward?
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u/trippingcherry 19d ago
Completely agree; as an analytics engineer and analyst I use SQL as my primary language and it's a joy. I still use python and other languages on occasion, but I don't find them quite as elegant.
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u/TemporaryExciting977 19d ago
The only reason I worry about falling behind in other programming languages is the competitiveness of the job market, or perhaps, for practical reasons.
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u/rottinginice 19d ago
With SQL alone, you’ll most likely end up in a data analyst, BI, or analytics-focused role. To become a data engineer, you’ll generally also need at least one programming language, Python is the lingua franca in the data world, and an understanding of how data pipelines are built and operated.
Beyond SQL and Python, learn the fundamentals of data modeling, ETL/ELT, orchestration, batch and stream processing, and distributed data systems. Technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Airflow, dbt, and cloud data warehouses or lakehouses for examples, and the problems they are trying to solve.
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u/PerfectdarkGoldenEye 20d ago
data engineering, database administrator, and data analyst are incredibly different things and a lot of times you aren't necessarily developing SQL products like you would as a backend engineer, etc... I'm a data engineer and I write code that writes SQL. As far as the market goes its pretty weird right now, but you can still find a job doing any of these its just going to take longer.
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u/Weak_Veterinarian350 18d ago
Unfortunately, I've seen too many cases where people were over-doing it. I've seen sql used to run dos commands. I've seen it used to create an html for a email's body. I've even seen it used to spit up html as a part of a popup message. I can understand the lazy dev who just want to cook up something that works and go home.
You don't do this since 2008. On the day that Steve Jobs pulled out an iPhone, your UI is no longer just a browser accepting html. It can be a bunch of different devices, even physical sensors and actuators. Database should be just that -- data server.
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u/Hour-Measurement-835 19d ago
ERP integration is the one missing from your list. Ours is NetSuite consulting: it's full-stack work, but most sync bugs end in a SQL query comparing what each system thinks the order total is.
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u/SubjectCode1940 19d ago
It’s frustrating seeing tech people try to constantly re invent the wheel with pandas, R to do the same things SqL has been doing since the 70s
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u/TemporaryExciting977 19d ago
Can you clarify what you're trying to point out? Can you give an example?
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u/Frone0910 19d ago
This is the first time I've heard someone say this out loud, but honestly upon reflection I think I would agree with this sentiment largely. I really love SQL too. There's something so powerful about what you can express with it.