ADO has provider classes that connect us to databases.  These classes can be used with sql, oracle, etc.

(Connected) Provider Classes:

DB Connection - connects to a database

DB Command - executes commands (Select)

DB Data Reader - used in conjunction with the select statement.  Reads through data set line by line.

DB Data Adapter - works with Data Set to read data from database and then write it back.


It also has other classes that store data

Container Classes (Disconnected)

Data Set - A very complex heavyweight object that can hold an entire relational database.  This would exist in memory while using application. (Kind of like a copy of the database that can be manipulated and then is later copied to the database)

Data Table - Used to manipulate data in a control (aka a table).


When using the SQL commands, there are different codes to use.

Select - ExecuteReader

Insert
Update - Execute Selection Query

A Little Bit Better

Well, after the last rant I am feeling a little bit better.  (That may be due to the fact that my Accounting test is done with and I've had a bit more time to spend on my web development classes.)  I am excited about web programming.  It still fascinates me to have the ability to create websites.  I enjoy thinking of how I am going to get my sisters web page up and running and the different things I can do to it.

The excitement comes with lots of studying however and today I am going to "test" my ability to do some basic but essential things in ASP.NET.

*side note-- Pam, my professor, if you are reading this, don't think I am not enjoying or studying for your class.  I love doing all web development but as for right now the class is pretty basic (Thank you! It's like a review of my first MIS class.) and has given me the opportunity to study things in my ASP.NET class that I didn't quite understand.

Objects-  Objects are basically a chunk of code that do something....like create a submit button.  To create an object you need to instantiate it, aka provide a memory spot for it to exist.  To instantiate the object you do something like this:

Product saleProduct = new Product();

Product is the type of object you are creating, saleProduct is the name of the object you created, new is a keyword that tells ASP.NET to grab the memory and Product() lets ASP.NET know that the new object is being created from the Product class(I think, not exactly sure on the last one.).

Programming Woes

Well, looks like I'm going to use this blog again after all.  Mostly though just to vent.  I'm not going to lie, we are almost a month into this semester and sometimes i feel so lost.  I blame a lot of this on my accounting class I have to take.  The business curriculum makes you take two accounting classes.  I understand, they want business students to at least understand concepts of accounting.  You would think though, that they could teach one all around class with the basics that you should know in the business world and be done.  Of course, offer the other classes for accounting majors and such that will actually use this stuff in their life but for me, I just could care less about it.  I have found myself spending more time trying to keep up and understand this last accounting class this semester, than I have in any of my other classes.  It gets really frustrating.  I hate accounting!  Okay, hate is a strong word....I hate that I am spending more time studying for this crap than I am with things that matter to me....like designing web pages.

When I am in class and sometimes when I am reading my textbooks, I feel like I understand what is going on.  Then when I try to do something on my own, I get tons of errors that I can't figure out to fix.  Either that or I can't think of a way to do something.  Take my ASP.NET class for example...  I find this one of my most interesting classes I have ever taken.  I love doing this stuff! But for the last couple of days I have gotten so frustrated with it because I can't figure out what to do, or when I do figure it out, it is after spending hours studying.

Today, I decided to go back to the basics, and this is why I decided to write this blog post.  I have decided to go back and read beginning, yet highly important things, and delve into the concepts until I understand them, and know how to use them.  Today I started out with objects.  I still don't think I fully comprehend the full power and use for them, but I get the gist.  I am also a lot more comfortable creating them.  I will continue to study this until I feel I have mastered it.  This is the only way I can think of to get me back on page.  I will post the rest of the things i plan on studying at the end of this post so i don't forget.

On a more positive note, last night, I did something that really helped my mood.  After feeling frustrated with my slow progress this week with school, I decided to browse jobs in my career choice.  I looked up ASP.NET along with selecting in the USA and entry-level positions.  It lifted my spirits to see how many jobs were available at this moment.  It lifted my spirits even more to see the some of the jobs required only the things I am studying this semester, and that starting pays were sometimes in the 80-100 grand range.  As a sole provider for my family, 80 grand sounds really really really good right now.  I couldn't believe it!  It got me excited again and I was reminded why I need to work so hard to study and understand these subjects to a "t".  This is the reason I am sitting here typing this blog and NOT watching college football right now.  (For those that know me, college football and fishing are THE hobbies in my life which i enjoy the most, so that is saying something that for two consecutive weeks I have not gone fishing, and have limited my football game to only really important ones in my book.)

Again, I blame this on accounting.  It is the bane of my existence right now.  But I have no room for failure right now so study I must.


List of things to study for ASP.NET:

1. The definition of a class and an object in object oriented programming
2. Components of a class, including:
   1. Access Modifiers
   2. Member Variables
   3. Properties
   4. Constructors
   5. Methods
   6. Events
3. Advanced class topics, including:
   1. Aggregation
   2. Inheritance
   3. Static Members
   4. Casting Objects
   5. Partial Classes
   6. Generics
4. .NET Types, including value and reference types
5. Namespaces and assemblies
6. The difference between a standard HTML element and a HTML server control
7. How to convert html elements to HTML server controls
8. The HTML Control Classes, including
   1. HTMLControl
   2. HTMLContainerControl
   3. HTMLInputControl
9. The Page class
10. Redirecting a user to a new page
11. The purpose of the Global.asax file
12. The purpose of the web.config file
13. The difference between HTML Server Controls and ASP.NET Web Server Controls
14. The basics of Web control syntax
15. Basic Web controls and their corresponding classes, including:
    1. Label
    2. Literal
    3. TextBox
    4. CheckBox
    5. RadioButton
    6. Hyperlink
    7. Button
    8. LinkButton
    9. ImageButton
    10. Image
    11. ListBox
    12. DropDownList
    13. CheckBoxList
    14. RadioButtonList
    15. BulletedList
    16. Panel
    17. Table, TableRow, and TableCell
16. Web control events and autopostback
17. The Page Lifecycle

MIS Beginnings

I grew up in a very small town in central Utah.  Throughout my life, I was raised in the Mormon Church.  With that upbringing, the only thing I ever wanted to do was serve a mission.  I knew at the age of 19, I would get out and serve the Lord for two years, anything after that was sort of hazy.  Sure, I wanted to be a rock star, or a famous athlete, or an astronaut, but what kid doesn't?  I remember going through high school not really knowing what i was going to do after I went on a mission except go to college.  Well, I achieved my goals and went on a mission.  After my mission I had planned to go to Snow College and then to SUU, since they were the places that actually took the time to recruit me.  On the last mother's day on my mission, I made the bi-annual phone call home.  My sister and brother in law were there and my brother in law convinced me to go to UVU instead and just live with them.  I took the offer and started my first semester taking a few general ed classes.  During that semester my brother in law, who is a police officer, convinced me to do the police academy there.  It made sense to me to do this for many reasons so I jumped on board.  I went through the academy and met my wife during that time.  

I got a job at the Ephraim City Police Department and married my wife that same month.  After a few months, we decided that the cop life was not for us and we jumped ship and I went back to school at Snow College.  I decided to do civil engineering and one of the required classes was intro to programming.  This was the class I was dreading most.  This was also the class that introduced a small town country hick to the world of technological possibilities.

I ended up loving the programming class though I continued with studying Civil Engineering.  After a year at Snow, we moved to Utah State to continue with the engineering program.  That semester ended up being one of the hardest semesters I've ever done.  I was at school from 7 in the morning til sometimes 10 or 11 at night.  My friends and I studied all the time yet I managed to pull almost straight C's.  That same semester, we found out my wife was expecting our first child.  We decided to drop the Engineering program and take up an easier schedule.  I wasn't sure what to do so I started looking around trying to find an easy way out.  I decided I would explore the HR career and got myself signed up for some business classes (something I never thought I would do).  I took an MIS class that semester and was sold.  I loved it and was blown away of the fact that I could type some stuff up on notepad and make it into a web page.  In the next few semesters I have grown to love the MIS world, and my mind has been opened up to a whole new world.  I finally have some purpose, some career goal I want to achieve, and I enjoy doing it.  I still did not love some of the business classes (accounting especially), but now I have most of those finished and can focus on MIS classes. 

This blog was created for part of an assignment.  It is supposed to be a blog about the things I learn, helpful websites I come across, etc.  I'm not sure how often I will use this or even if I will use it at all but I guess Time will tell.