Cody K (3/31/2014)
I do knows some DBAs that fall into your criteria of learning a lot of technical minutiae quickly and even retain it. That's a cool skill to have. But they are usually also extremely abrasive, create bug-riddled code, don't care about formatting, and every task seems an exercise in obfuscation and job security.
Nice generalisation there. I'd write a longer comment, but I have some bug-ridden, poorly formatted, obsfucated code to go and write... :Whistling:
The best database people I know (and not all of them are DBAs, a good number are developers) learn fast, learn details and take a great deal of pride in their work, which means well-written, well formatted and well documented and a desire to help others learn and improve.
Bug-ridden, poorly formatted and uncommented implies to me at least that someone doesn't care about their job (and it doesn't matter what they say, their actions are what count)
btw, job security, in the way you describe it there, means 'can't take vacations, can't get promoted/transferred'. To hell with job security.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability