My Tech Blog

A New Path

Current Interests

I've been learning a lot lately about data analytics and data science. I really like the combination of math and computer science involved in the field. I decided to start working towards a M.S. in Data Analytics that covers data engineering, analysis, and application development. The classes I've taken so far have been both a good review of database techniques I've learned and an update on information that is completely new.

What I've been learning - Database Management Systems

The graduate level database management systems class has been intense. I've learned a lot about Oracle PL/SQL and database normalization through various class projects. Improving database entity relationship modeling through functional dependencies is something I've wanted to improve on, and this class has made me much better at it. I don't think I'm a master DBA or anything, but I'm much better at creating an operational database in third normal form.

What I've been learning - Data Warehousing

Building a data warehouse isn't something I knew very much about before I started taking this class. As an application developer I was more concerned with operational systems that keep the business running. Data warehousing requires a different way of thinking and tables are designed in a dimensional model that's different from 3NF. It's interesting to see how data can be transformed through an ETL process from source systems into a dimensional model that can analyze terabytes or petabytes of data. I definitely understand how important a data warehouse is for an analytics or business intelligence system.

Future Plans

I'm becoming more interested in understanding how to implement business intelligence and analytics applications. I'm planning on working towards finding a way to work with this kind of technology or at least learning more about it.

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