Career: C# and SQL Server
Ahh, a post about what I'm working on during the week. So, a few weeks back, I was unemployed for just about three weeks. Typically when one is unemployed, one applies for unemployment benefits through your local state offices and/or internet related website. I did the latter. One of the thing you had to do was to do some sort of job search activity 3 times a week. They had a nice little form that let you record who you contacted and whatnot as they may want to see who you talked to at any given time. I didn't use the form. I used Excel. Using a spreadsheet was good enough for what kind of information they wanted, but I wanted a far more complex and cryptic way of doing it. Ok, not really. I actually thought that this form would translate well to a small database. And you got to have a front end for that database.
So, I went forth getting what I needed to make said database. There were several options available to me. On the free side, database engines that I could have used include MySQL, Firebird, MS SQL Server Express, or the MS JET engine which is included with Excel. I knew of MySQL from some past work I did with it. I also have a book on it, Learning SQL. I read about Firebird in a magazine many months ago and didn't really have any hands on experience with it. SQL Server Express is the free, stripped down version of SQL Server 2005. I've used SQL Server in the past at one internship. I just "threw-up" the JET engine up there cause I'm kind of kicking its tires at work. I actually had no intentions of using JET.
I eventually went with SQL Server as it included a nice GUI for making tables and all that good stuff. I'm sure MySQL has something similar and I have no doubt in my mind that it's a very capable engine. Since I'm into C#, which is pretty much a MS product, and I was planning to do the front end in it I thought it would be good keep it all...umm...native. I guess. Though I do have plans of making another front end in maybe Java (because I like torture and there always seems to be some demand for java devs) or even a web interface in AJAX (because I'm a sheep in the herd of AJAX).
So I went to work designing the database in SQL Server Express. It's not to terribly complicated with maybe 15 tables. It's probably good enough for my needs and that's all I really need. The backend is mostly done, with just a few more tables to add. When I say mostly, I just realize that there's more than just tables I could put in. Things like stored procedures and triggers and..and...I dunno. Other stuff. I know I may not need that but I think it will be good practice to have a little of that in.
Next up is to start designing the frontend and all that goodness. I frankly have no idea what it should look like. I have been reading a book, Windows Forms Programming in C#, which I just noticed that a new version is out on Friday. Snap. Oh well. I will have to pick that up in the future. Anyway, so I've been reading through that to get an idea on how to do forms and dialogs and other graphical related things. It's been a good read so far. I hope the next version has more goodness.
That's where I am at right now. Reading and thinking how the app will look. It shouldn't be too complicated but I'm doing this to learn now as I really don't have a need now to record my job contacts at the moment. ^_^
So, I went forth getting what I needed to make said database. There were several options available to me. On the free side, database engines that I could have used include MySQL, Firebird, MS SQL Server Express, or the MS JET engine which is included with Excel. I knew of MySQL from some past work I did with it. I also have a book on it, Learning SQL. I read about Firebird in a magazine many months ago and didn't really have any hands on experience with it. SQL Server Express is the free, stripped down version of SQL Server 2005. I've used SQL Server in the past at one internship. I just "threw-up" the JET engine up there cause I'm kind of kicking its tires at work. I actually had no intentions of using JET.
I eventually went with SQL Server as it included a nice GUI for making tables and all that good stuff. I'm sure MySQL has something similar and I have no doubt in my mind that it's a very capable engine. Since I'm into C#, which is pretty much a MS product, and I was planning to do the front end in it I thought it would be good keep it all...umm...native. I guess. Though I do have plans of making another front end in maybe Java (because I like torture and there always seems to be some demand for java devs) or even a web interface in AJAX (because I'm a sheep in the herd of AJAX).
So I went to work designing the database in SQL Server Express. It's not to terribly complicated with maybe 15 tables. It's probably good enough for my needs and that's all I really need. The backend is mostly done, with just a few more tables to add. When I say mostly, I just realize that there's more than just tables I could put in. Things like stored procedures and triggers and..and...I dunno. Other stuff. I know I may not need that but I think it will be good practice to have a little of that in.
Next up is to start designing the frontend and all that goodness. I frankly have no idea what it should look like. I have been reading a book, Windows Forms Programming in C#, which I just noticed that a new version is out on Friday. Snap. Oh well. I will have to pick that up in the future. Anyway, so I've been reading through that to get an idea on how to do forms and dialogs and other graphical related things. It's been a good read so far. I hope the next version has more goodness.
That's where I am at right now. Reading and thinking how the app will look. It shouldn't be too complicated but I'm doing this to learn now as I really don't have a need now to record my job contacts at the moment. ^_^
posted by Keith at
6:35 PM
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