How to quickly learn Oracle

[mazeroth]

I applied for a job at work that I will likely get. I'm a chemist and it's for a lab job doing computer validation work. Essentially, setting up our equipment, validating that it works correctly, and making sure it's on the network and backing up correctly. It's a large company and we have about 100 instruments I will be responsible for. It would be beneficial to have Oracle experience as it will be needed on the job but nothing super intensive. Can you guys recommend a site or book that will teach me the basics of Oracle, and how long do you think it will take to grasp it?

I took a class in college that was half Excel and half Access (it was required). I didn't attend a single class. I did all the homework in one day as I read the book and aced the final. I'm sure Oracle is much more in-depth than Access but just wanted to throw out there that I grasped Access very quickly so hopefully I can do the same with Oracle.

 

[Train]

I guess it depends on what type of Access work you did. I've known people to be great with Access yet never write a lick of SQL.

If you DID have to write SQL for access, the same basic concepts apply to Oracle. A lot of the "basic" sql statements are pretty much the same across all databases. The basic concepts of indexing and table relationships are the same as well, its' just that every RDBMS has it's quirks along with a different interface.

 

[Markbnj]

As Train mentioned there are more similarities than differences across SQL database engines. So the first question is: do you know any SQL? If so, then the best thing to do is just install a db and experiment with it. If you don't know any SQL then that would probably be the place to start, and Google will provide plenty of intro material. You might also list back some of the tasks you expect to be able to accomplish, and we can comment more specifically on them.

 

[KentState]

When you say learn Oracle, what does that mean? Are you wanting to administer an Oracle server, become a PL/SQL developer or both? Is this running on Linux, Unix, or Windows? Are you familiar with O/S it's running on because that would be the first step.

 

[ForumMaster]

When you say learn Oracle, what does that mean? Are you wanting to administer an Oracle server, become a PL/SQL developer or both? Is this running on Linux, Unix, or Windows? Are you familiar with O/S it's running on because that would be the first step.

KentState is right. A good step, would be this site.

From there, you can get to the documentation for what ever version of oracle use. That includes installation guides, application developers guides, sql reference guides or whatever else you might need.

Good luck.

 

[mazeroth]

When you say learn Oracle, what does that mean? Are you wanting to administer an Oracle server, become a PL/SQL developer or both? Is this running on Linux, Unix, or Windows? Are you familiar with O/S it's running on because that would be the first step.

Go Golden Flashes! I went to Kent State as well.

I'm not super good with databases or networking but am very good when it comes to hardware troubleshooting etc. I'll try my best to describe what I'll need.

Our company has a few "systems" we use. One is a database that is intranet based that houses all our departmental and standard operating procedures. Another is a database that runs through Access but has an Oracle backend that tracks out of trend or out of spec data. We use SAP to track just about everything else. Incoming materials, when they're ok to be used in production, when the production lots are done, quantities for everything in the warehouse, when a finished good is released to market etc.

I spoke with a guy that has a similar job and said Oracle experience is not necessary but it would look great to have. I was just hoping to get the basics so when I do interview I can say I am familiar with Oracle and if I needed to use it for something I would likely be able to learn how to do that functionality when needed. We use Windows XP throughout our site.

I'm sorry if this is vague but I'm a primarily a chemist who happens to be the go-to person for laboratory IT stuff out of about 100 analysts. I'm sure they want me for the job and I just want to make sure I'm overqualified and not underqualified. If I could read a book or two and practice a few hours a day for a couple of weeks and be somewhat familiar would be great.

Thanks for your time.

 

[KentState]

My suggestion would be to download Oracle and install it on a computer. If you have access to a spare, that would be best. Then create a new database to start playing in.

Next download a free trial of a tool like Toad for Oracle or PL/SQL Developer. This will be your development IDE which is much simpler to use than work Oracle includes.

Finally, take a subject you like or have interest in and build some tables that represent it. Once you have some tables setup, begin inserting, deleting, selecting and updating the data. This will all be accomplished through simple SQL which you should be able to find plenty of tutorials on.

It's a lot to take in over a couple months, but the good thing is that the software is free to try and tutorials are readily available.