I am thinking about getting into a little bit of computer programming
in order to make digging through databases for gene sequences more
convenient for myself. Has anyone gotten into programming? If so, is
there a language that you recommend I learn or that you recommend I
not learn. I was going to try to learn in Perl or Python. Thanks and
have a great day!

Mandy Kendrick

Hi Mandy,

If you are wanting to learn in order to gain greater access to specific
databases then you should probably learn those particular databases.
Most modern databases like IBM's DB2, Oracle, and MS SQL Server use
a standardized query language called SQL (Structured Query Language)
that there are many resources for. These databases also have built in
query facilities like IBM's CLP (Command Line Processor) that are used
to make ad hoc queries into it's databases. You might want to talk to
the administrators of the databases in question to get a recommendation
on the tools that are available to you.

Good luck,
Philip Wright


Mandy wrote:

I am thinking about getting into a little bit of computer programming
in order to make digging through databases for gene sequences more
convenient for myself. Has anyone gotten into programming? If so, is
there a language that you recommend I learn or that you recommend I
not learn. I was going to try to learn in Perl or Python. Thanks and
have a great day!

Mandy Kendrick

Philip is quite right about learning the language that allows you to
select and order the data you want from the database, namely SQL. That
said, some databases support "query by example" where you choose items
from a schematic of the database and say how you want them filtered
and ordered, and the database management system then generates the SQL
for you.

If you are concerned with then manipulating, analysing and presenting
the data I think Python would be a good choice. Both Python and Perl
are powerful and expressive languages with a lot of support, but I
think Python is cleaner and more intuitive than Perl for a beginner.
The documentation that comes with the standard distribution has a good
introductory tutorial, and there are several other free tutorials
available. The built-in language features and the enormous standard
library means that you won't need to reinvent the wheel or look to
third-party software for many common computing tasks (unlike, say,
Visual Basic), and if you _do_ need third-party software there is a
lot of it (of good quality) for free. Also the usenet group
comp.lang.python is very friendly, is visited by most of the main
Python developers (including its inventor) and is supportive of
beginners' questions.

On Tue, 03 Dec 2002 14:48:49 -0500, Philip Wright
wrote:

Hi Mandy,

If you are wanting to learn in order to gain greater access to specific
databases then you should probably learn those particular databases.
Most modern databases like IBM's DB2, Oracle, and MS SQL Server use
a standardized query language called SQL (Structured Query Language)
that there are many resources for. These databases also have built in
query facilities like IBM's CLP (Command Line Processor) that are used
to make ad hoc queries into it's databases. You might want to talk to
the administrators of the databases in question to get a recommendation
on the tools that are available to you.

Good luck,
Philip Wright


Mandy wrote:

I am thinking about getting into a little bit of computer programming
in order to make digging through databases for gene sequences more
convenient for myself. Has anyone gotten into programming? If so, is
there a language that you recommend I learn or that you recommend I
not learn. I was going to try to learn in Perl or Python. Thanks and
have a great day!

Mandy Kendrick

--
Martin (off-duty)
Chandlers Ford, Hampshire