Thread: I am NOT a programmer!

On 2012-05-10 08:43, Shawn Matthews wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I tried to install PostgreSQL as part of a package install of Open
> Portfolio Manager, from Sourceforge.net. The trouble is, I am not a
> programmer or even have significant IT experience. I was trying to
> install OPPM in order to organize my daily business, which is project
> based. My boss has refused to pay for any management system, and so I
> started looking around for an open source solution that I can install
> on all of our computers.
>
> My question is a two-tiered one.
>
>      * Do I have to be a programmer to install PostgreSQL, working from
> the C prompt?
>      * If so, where should I start to learn any of these basics so that
> I
> can get up and running as quickly as possible.
>
> I have some interest in learning programming, but am bewildered with
> where to start or how to organize a learning schedule. Any help would
> be greatly appreciated.

The simple answer is: No, and http://www.postgresql.org/docs/

That said, if you haven't done any programming or have any IT
experience, Postgresql is going to have a learning curve.  ;)  This is
not Access or Filemaker; Postgresql is a high-end database, which is
designed to be used as a data store by your company's own customized
application.  (Or applications.)  The 'default' client that ships with
Postgresql is basically a debug/setup console.

I'm not familiar with the product you've referred to: If it's a full
application that uses Postgresql as a data store, presumably you
shouldn't have to do more than basic setup (which should be covered in
their documentation), if they've done a good job of creating the
package.  If it's something you are building based on a more generic
package - tell your boss it'll probably be cheaper (and faster) to buy
something.  ;)  (Because your time is worth money too, and you'll have
to spend a fair amount of it on a project like that.)  But it would be
needed to be treated like any other development project: figure out your
requirements, and what you need to know.  Read through some courses on
SQL, and work out what you need to be able to track/store, and then work
out how to do that in Postgresql.  I like O'Reilly as a general source
of technical information, and Postgresql itself has very good docs.
(Though for a quick introduction/review of SQL, I like the SQLite docs:
http://www.sqlite.org/lang.html )

And don't be afraid to ask questions as needed.  You'll probably have
lots.

Daniel T. Staal

---------------------------------------------------------------
This email copyright the author.  Unless otherwise noted, you
are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use
the contents for non-commercial purposes.  This copyright will
expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years,
whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of
local copyright law.
---------------------------------------------------------------

On Thursday, May 10, 2012 08:43:30 AM Shawn Matthews wrote:
Do I have to be a programmer to install PostgreSQL, working from the C prompt?

1. If so, where should I start to learn any of these basics so that I can get up and running as quickly as possible.

You don't need to be a programmer. You will need to learn some systems administration skills. In particular, getting reliable backups will require setup and regular testing/verification. You cannot just back up the running system with a generic backup program and expect it to work.

Presumably someone does systems work for your company now, possibly you could ask them?

I can't really advise on how to learn genuine Windows sysadmin skills. Any attempt I've made has usually ended in defenestration. In general, however, the best way to learn is to do something that needs to get done. And Google is always your friend. Pretty much no matter what problem you run into, someone else has had it before and has posted about it somewhere.

In terms of setting up and running PostgreSQL, the documentation online is excellent, if somewhat Unix-centric.