What to do after Python?

[mkx at excite.com]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2001 09:05:40 -0700, "bowman" <bowman at montana.com>
wrote:

>the only thing SQL ever broadened was my boredom. Once the initial concepts
>are grasped, which takes about an hour, the rest is endless repetition.

If your scope for these "initial concepts" is bound by simple SELECT
queries than perhaps the statement above is accurate. However, it
seems the many people believe that the SQL language is simply what
they see built by the Microsoft Access query builder.

The SQL language has many of the same constructs found in most other
languages (procedures, functions, recursion, etc.) But within the
environment provided by a RDBMS, the SQL language is backed by a lot
of power. Too often, I have seen "experienced" programmers consume
excessive server resources by needlessly executing multiple queries
inside loops of other program languages, because they have not spent
the time to learn that a properly written SQL query can save many
iterations on the "program side."

If one is to develop software that uses a RDBMS, then a full command
of the SQL language is as important as a command of the language used
to develop the application itself. Too often, I have seen the example
where the development staff complains that the "database is too slow",
beacuse their code that builds a hierarchical tree-view display takes
30-60 seconds before the web page can be built. Inspection shows that
the web server is exectuing separate SELECTs for each branch of the
tree, requiring 100's of queries to be executed to build a single
page. Once these programmers see that the same hierarchical structure
can be built with a single database call to a stored procedure, or
recursive query, and completes in a second or two, then they are
interested in really learning the language.

>being a crusty old C programmer, I don't consider RPG a language, either.

What defines a programming language, by your views?