Gary’s Blog

a post for students in database course Ever heard the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out”? It’s a fundamental truth in the world of data analytics. Imagine you’re trying to bake a perfect cake, but half your ingredients are spoiled, or you’ve accidentally doubled the sugar in one bowl and forgotten it entirely in another. Your Read More

For decades, percentages have been the cornerstone of academic assessment, a seemingly objective and straightforward way to quantify student performance. We assign a numerical score, average it out, and present it as a clear indicator of learning. Yet, beneath this veneer of simplicity lies a system riddled with flaws, one that actively hinders effective assessment, Read More

a post for students in my database course Queries are fundamental to data analytics, enabling the extraction and manipulation of information from databases and other sources. When working with data, particularly in building data pipelines, two primary methodologies for moving and preparing data are Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) and Extract, Load, Transform (ELT). While both Read More

a post for students in my database course In the fast-paced world of data, insights are currency, and queries are the keys to unlocking them. For anyone stepping into database design and management, understanding queries isn’t just a technical skill; it’s a fundamental capability that underpins almost every task, from collecting raw information to generating Read More

a post for students in my database course In our previous post, we delved into the evolving landscape of databases, moving beyond the familiar structured world of SQL to explore NoSQL. We established that NoSQL, or “Not Only SQL,” encompasses a diverse range of databases, some structured and relational (like JSON’s key-value pairs), and others Read More

a post for students in my database course The term “NoSQL” can be a bit misleading. While it literally stands for “Not SQL,” it’s more accurately interpreted as “Not Only SQL.” The core distinction, as the sources explain, is that anything that isn’t based on SQL is considered NoSQL. But here’s where it gets interesting: Read More