Learning

I’m an open-source database consultant. But which open-source database? Well, several of them.

I made the decision several years ago to take every opportunity to work with multiple databases. Why?

1. Learning a new language teaches you more about your own. For example, taking time to understand sstables in Cassandra gave me more insight into how storage works in MySQL. Having these experiences across multiple databases forced me to question what I knew about internals, therefore deepening my understanding overall.

One of my favorite interview questions is, “How do you keep up with technology?” The answer to this question shows a lot about a candidate. Do they use down time at work to read up on the recent blogs? Are they asking for new assignments to stretch their skillsets? What about the thought leaders are in the space – are they connected?

But we do have to face that there are more new technologies and news about technology than anyone could possibly read about in a day. In my chosen slice of technology, what is a small slice of open source databases, there seems to be a new major database every 6 months. That’s not even counting feature updates, security bugs, and the broad ecosystem around databases. My inbox has been full to overflowing of invitations to review, attend conferences, notice this hot new feature in a top technology, etc.

I found a real-world use for chat GPT. The kid wanted me to quiz her to prep for her midterm, and it’s been a long time since I studied anthropology. “Define this list of words” bam! now I have a cheat-sheet.