• I think its important to have a good foundational understanding of programming and when/why to use an SQL query instead of writing code.

    I learned SQL by looking at the resulting queries from MS Access applications I created. Hush, I can hear the groans already...

    I can and have hacked out TSQL code if I needed to, and have programmedin VB and so many other languages I've literally lost count.

    The one thing common to all of them is the fact that there are some things they just can't do easily (and sometimes not at all). And, there are easy and difficult ways to get things accomplished in each of them.

    My biggest problem when I switch to a new language is trying to do things the way I did them in the last language.

    So, to me it boils down to understanding what TSQL (or any language) can and can't do, what can programmed easily in it and what can't, and most importantly, where to find the information that explains all that to me.