RE: SQL Performance Question

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: rob@dekko.com
>
> Maybe because after he does it this way he will retain the knowledge and
> be able to use that in the future.  In other words, learning curve.

"Learning curve" explains Zak's benefit.  What was his employer's benefit?
Companies generally budget for education, they don't just allow you to spin
off and learn new technologies within a project.  "Learning curve" is
generally only expected among junior programmers, unless a new technology
direction is specifically chosen by management.

Because if not, programmers would be exercising "learning curve" all over
the place.  I'd have loved to rewrite things in Java on my employer's time
to learn Java.  What would my employer have gained?  My Java experience?
Would you really be able to sell that to management?  I know I couldn't have
done it at SSA.  I couldn't have just taken a working program and rewritten
it to try out some new technology unless I had signoff by management.

If Zak did all this SQL research entirely on his own time, not on the
company's nickel, or with management blessing, I'm more likely to accept it
as a valid approach.  But unmetered "learning curve" is not a justifiable
expense in a programming shop.  In fact, the "learning curve" associated
with web architectures (both by programmers and consulting firms)
contributed to the dot-com burst, as people "learned" about technologies
when they were supposed to be writing systems and thus project costs and
delivery dates spiraled out of control.

SSA did have technology assessment projects, by the way.  I ran many of
them, and you'll probably be surprised to learn that I spearheaded a lot of
technological innovation there, including the move to open hardware for
clients and the move to graphical interfaces.  That's how we developed the
first client/server business applications for OS/2 and OS/400.  The point is
that we used standard business decision making to identify new technological
dircctions, and once a given architecture was established, it was to be
followed by all development.  It just wasn't an individual programmer's
decision.

Joe