DEV Community: THEOLUCHIJUNE

My SQL Month

THEOLUCHIJUNE — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 10:39:29 +0000

At the first team meeting of August, 2021, the WellaHealth Technologies Engineering Team Lead, Bayo, advised everyone on the team to pick up a skill to learn for the month.

This learning process would not replace the tasks we were each handling for the company but would be something we would work on to help with our growth.

I decided to learn SQL(Structured Query Language) which is a computer language for storing, manipulating and retrieving data stored in a relational database.

A relational database refers to a database that stores data in a structured format, using rows and columns.

It is "relational" because the values within each table are related to each other.

Tables may also be related to other tables.

Tech Terms

The first thing I did was to find a clear and complete SQL resource for learning. I found the perfect course on SoloLearn which had 27 modules which each contained practical explanations, exercises and challenges.

After finding the SQL course, I divided the 27 modules into 3 weeks while I allocated the extra week in the month to solving complex excercises. This meant I had to cover 9 modules in a week.

I found out that breaking a huge task into smaller tasks made it easier for me to complete the main task.

Back to my SQL learning, in those three weeks I allocated for learning, I finished the complete SQL course where I learned how to use the:

SELECT
DISTINCT
LIMIT
WHERE
AND
OR
IN
NOT IN
LIKE
MIN
UNION
INSERT
UPDATE
DELETE
NOT NULL
AUTO_INCREMENT statements.

I also learnt:

How to sort results
Custom columns
Functions
Subqueries
Different types of JOIN
Creating a table
Altering, Dropping, Renaming a table
Views

This was a lot to learn but it was super interesting due to SQL language being quite similar to English Language which made it easy relating to the various terms.

When I was done with the course, I took an online SQL assessment through W3Schools where I gauged my knowledge and also learnt more.

After these three weeks, Bayo assigned an SQL task where I had to insert data into an already created table with various columns.

Inserting the data using SQL was a more tedious process compared to cases where I had written a code to put data into the table but when I was done with the task, I was glad that I was able to apply the SQL knowledge I had learnt during the month.

It's the 27th of August and I am currently working on more SQL tasks on SSMS while carrying out research on the skill I would learn next month.

I am excited that at Wellahealth, I get to learn something new everyday and challenge myself while being accountable to my team.

Would you say you learnt or got to understand a concept this month?
What was it?

References:

Understanding C# Variables

THEOLUCHIJUNE — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:11:49 +0000

Understanding variables and how they work is very essential for every coder as variables are basic concepts which you see and make use of at any stage in coding.

In this article, you would know what C# variables are, the various data types that exist in C#, how to declare (create) variables and how to assign values to already declared variables.

What are variables?

Variables are containers for storing data values. All programs use data values for performing tasks.

It is called a variable because the data stored in this container can be changed when the program is running.

A variable name, also called an identifier can be any set of letters and numbers but the best variable name describes the type of data it contains.

For example, fullName and Age are adequate and descriptive variable names, while abc and 123 are not.

The general rules for constructing names for variables (unique identifiers) are:

Names can contain letters, digits and the underscore character (_)

Names must begin with a letter

Names should start with a lowercase letter and it cannot contain whitespace

Names are case sensitive ("myVar" and "myvar" are different variables)

Reserved words (like C# keywords, such as int or double) cannot be used as names

-W3Schools in C# Variables

Data Types

A data type describes the type of data that can be stored in a variable or the type of data a variable can hold.

In C#, there are various data types, for example:

int : stores integers (whole numbers) from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
double: stores fractional numbers. The double data type is sufficient for storing 15 decimal digits.
char: stores a single character/letter. It is surrounded by single quotes.
string: stores a sequence of characters. It is surrounded by double quotes.
bool: stores true or false values

How to Declare (Create) Variables

To declare a variable, you must specify the data type and the variable name.
Syntax

type variableName;

Note: The above syntax is a statement and must always end with a semicolon (;).

For example,
To declare a variable called name of type string,

string name;

This shows that the variable called name stores text.

To declare a variable called age of type int.

int age;

This shows that the variable called age stores integers.

Assigning Values

You can also assign a value to the variable you have declared.
There are two ways of assigning values to already declared variables. They are:

Assigning values as you declare a variable,

type variableName = value;

For example, create a variable called name of type string and assign it the value Oluchi:

string name = “Oluchi”;

Assigning values after you declare a variable,

type variableName;
variableName = value;

For example, create a variable called name of type string and assign it the value Oluchi:

string name;
name = “Oluchi”;

Not all values are surrounded by double quotes.

If you take a look at the data types stated earlier, you would notice that:

the string data type is surrounded with double quotes
the char data type is surrounded with single quotes
the int data type isn’t surrounded with any quotes and so on.

Exercise: Create a variable called age of type int and assign it the value 51.
Assign this value using the two ways of assigning values to variables.

Answer

int age = 51;

int age;
age = 51;

Note: If you assign a new value to an existing variable, the new value would overwrite the existing value:
For example,
Change the value of age to 35:

int age = 51;
age = 35;

The variable age is now 35.

It is important that you try out various exercises on declaring variables and assigning values because it is only with constant practice that you get to understand how variables work better.
Happy Practising!

References

W3Schools in C# Variables
Cover image and Keyboard image from Raw Pixel

C#: A Beginner‘s Best Choice

THEOLUCHIJUNE — Mon, 24 May 2021 16:33:49 +0000

Want to start a career in software development with no prior knowledge of tech or computers?

Need guidance on the best programming language to learn which puts you on a successful career path?

In this article, you would understand what C# is, what the .NET Ecosystem is, benefits of learning C# as a beginner and where to access C# beginner resources.

What is C#?
C# ( pronounced c-sharp ) is a simple, modern, powerful and general-purpose object-oriented programming language.

Any object-oriented programming creates objects that interact with each other.

The interaction between these objects occur using characteristics or attributes which describe the object in terms of what it is and what functions it can perform.

C# enables software developers to build a variety of secure and robust software applications such as:

Web Applications
Mobile Applications
Windows Applications
Database Applications

and much more.

These software applications run on .NET ( pronounced dot-net ).

What is .NET?

“.NET is an open source developer platform, created by Microsoft, for building many different types of applications, such as web, mobile, and desktop. It consists of different tools, programming languages, and libraries.”

-Milan Milanovic in
A Brief Walk-Through of the .NET Ecosystem

Benefits of learning C# as a beginner

You do not need any prior knowledge or experience with coding or programming to learn C#.
C# is a high-level language, which means it is relatively easy to read and write, making it a solid choice for beginners.
C# is ranked number 6 on the list of programming languages and continues to elevate as it gains popularity and usage daily.

C# is really similar to Java.

Hence, mastering C# makes learning Java easier.

C# is one of the most popular programming languages and hence, has a large, active user community which makes it easy to find troubleshooting solutions and coding help on online communities.
C# is such a robust language that it is utilized by thousands of companies worldwide hence, a lot of companies need software developers who write code with C# and work with the .NET Framework.

Resources for learning C#:
CODECADEMY
Learn C#
https://www.codecademy.com/catalog/language/c-sharp

EXERCISM
C# is a modern, object-oriented language with lots of great features, such as type-inference and async/await.
https://exercism.io/tracks/csharp

C# DOCUMENTATION
Learn how to write any application using the C# programming language on the .NET platform.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/

If you are like me and love learning in interesting and creative ways, you should download the following apps:

SoloLearn
Codecademy

These apps are very fun and interesting when learning C# as a beginner.

In conclusion, choosing to learn and master C# can be one of the best career decisions you can make as you move from knowing nothing about coding and programming to being one of the hot talents in the tech market.

References:

Dzone’s official
Cover Image from Wallpaper Flare