What to do after Python?

[Roy Smith]

"bowman" <bowman at montana.com> wrote:
> the only thing SQL ever broadened was my boredom. Once the initial concepts
> are grasped, which takes about an hour, the rest is endless repetition. I
> usually feel like I'm headed for the Augean stables with a very small
> shovel.

I agree that SQL is about as exciting as a rotting turnip, but the fact is 
that there is a heck of a lot of SQL going on in the world, and it's a good 
skill to know.  What's more, the Python SQL interface makes the two a 
really powerful combination.  I find what works well most of the time is to 
let SQL dig out the data you want, then use Python to manipulate it.

I'm working right now with a product which was historically SQL-based.  The 
stuff we're doing now has evolved almost entirely away from SQL, but we 
still maintain a copy of some data in Oracle for backward-compatability.  
Every so often, while my co-workers are struggling to figure something out, 
I'll impress them by firing up sqlplus, typing "select blah from blah where 
blah blah blah", and getting the answer in 30 seconds.