Episode 1: Introduction to SQL & PL/SQL

Years ago, the IOUG-A developed a DBA certification exam in coordination with The Chauncey Group. As part of that effort, I reviewed the 250 test questions developed by the test authors and told them what I thought the correct answers were. When I later developed a set of 100 test questions for ORACLE8 Advanced Tuning and Administration, I tried to write questions that tested actual experience.

When Oracle rolled out its OCP program, many Chauncey-certified DBAs ignored it. But after several years of development and refinement, Oracle's OCP program is becoming more commonly used as a professional benchmark. The DBA job market is such that certification is not a job requirement, but the number of resumes showing up with certification information on them is increasing. To be able to evaluate that claim accurately, I will be going back through the certification process, taking the exams that make up the DBA test - five exams in all.

Now, the non-disclosure agreement prevents me from discussing the test contents directly, so I won't be revealing test questions. There are a number of books and online services (such as the Database Domain, where I am now on the Advisory Board) that offer sample tests. But I would like to offer two observations:

• First, I think it's great that the first test DBA's have to pass is "Introduction to Oracle: SQL and PL/SQL". Ideally, DBAs should know what the developers are doing and developers should have to pass DBA tests as well. DBAs should know how to create all of the objects in the database, as well as the major restrictions and options.
• Second, I think tests should be focused on real-world successful coding. That is, we should be testing how to do things right, not "what is wrong with this command". An example from my own questions: in the Advanced Tuning book, question 35 gives a four line command and asks which of the lines will cause the command to fail. What difference does it make? If you type it in, Oracle will tell you which line will cause the error. Does not making that error make you a worse DBA? Of course not.

That question should be changed to reflect how things should be rather than how they should not be. The idea should be to help develop professionals who do things properly, not professionals who have made typos. It's certainly valuable to know how to recover from failures, and how to debug errant code. But that should be just a small part of testing; the focus should remain on effective administration and use of systems.

Speaking of which, I tried to register online for the test, but the testing agency's web order-entry system was down. I called the 800 number the web site said to call and spoke to a person who informed me that their internal order-entry system was down too. So much for backup systems.

Anyway, I passed. Next up: "Oracle8: Database Administration". Kind of a big topic, and backup/recovery, performance tuning, and networking are all separate tests. I think I have a book around here somewhere on that topic…