Access - Why it;s so great.

[myrafly]

I was googling myself and I realized that I have nothing up there about Microsoft Access and why I stick to it.. When I got out of school the second time with my brand new copy of Microsoft office with the books.  That's how long ago it was, Office came with Manuals.  I got the student price and I was pleased.  I remember looking at the books and realizing while I knew word and excel and powerpoint, I had no clue what was this access thing.  So I decided to read the manual.  I guess if you need proof that although I am verbal I am also a geek, there it is.  I read the manual.  I decided that although there were many things in the manual I was not going to understand I was going to read it anyway and so I could understand what this tool can do.  After reading the book I started creating databases and as luck would have it, I got a job where knowing access kept me employed for an extra 5 months...

I learned on the job, by making lots of mistakes and correcting them.   I had Access 2.0 and a flat database.  Way better than an excel table, I found that I could query it and accidental mixing of the data through sorting was no longer and issue.

• Data related to the key cannot be mixed up with data belonging to another key..

Then I went to other jobs and got amazing opportunities to figure stuff out.  At SportsFlorida (a TV channel)  I created my first macros.  I used the Switchboard and I locked it down with security.  They were sold shortly there after.  I left quick.  That was my first quick database.

• Fast Application Development

I then went to various places and learned various skills by doing them.  I found that the help system was helpful.

• Code was learnable

Everywhere I went I learned that I was the hero.  That no one else could do my tricks.  One of my tricks was to check google to see if someone had already written the code I was needing...

• Code was stealable

I worked in a .net shop and found that I could do something "prototype" in days, where the .net folks required much much longer.  I've looked at .net and see that you need to create your environment for yourself.  Ultimate flexibility is tied with Ultimate hassle.

• Prepared Environment

I keep hanging in there because it's what I do.  This is a very scary economy and scary for folks like me who are really a luxury item.  I know that Access programmers with all the above qualities are usually brought in during good times.  We have the ability to create reports off of data that could be from almost any source.  Sometimes I am called in to write the reports that let a company know that it's slipping and should sell.  (That's happened quite a bit actually.  I leave and they close or get acquired.  I don't leave.  I'm shown the door.  I'm painfully loyal.)

• Flexible reporting
  

I think the main reason I stick with it over all is that I really enjoy coding.  I suppose if I had to code all day every day it would be a drag.  I usually do a bit of design and some data integrity work and then some coding.  I get into flow when I code.  I write and write and test and test.  I like commenting my code because I never remember 2 months on, what I was aiming at.  Occasionally I'll write a bit and find it later and them put in my comments.  If I am working on someone else's code I will document it first so I can figure out why they did that.  I guess the downside to all this wonderful flexibility is that you can do it wrong.  You can write terrible code (that works)  Code that is hard to follow and to change.  I have learned to write table driven code, so when they want to change user or percentages you change one number in one place. It's better that way for me.

I think I like this work because I love a challenge and Access is fairly challenging. They keep changing the version and I have to be able to flow from one version to the next.

That's enough for now... I know that most are asleep by this point.  It's not the most thrilling thing to read is it.  But right now.  It's what I do for a living.  Or I will do when someone finally puts me back to work.