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SQL and Python solve different problems with data. Python tells the computer what to do, step by step. SQL describes the data you want and lets the database figure out how to get it. As a Python developer, learning SQL means you’ll write better pandas queries, know when to push work to the database instead of pulling everything into memory, and understand what your ORM is actually doing under the hood. ...

Tracking my yearly goals is a habit that has evolved in time. Around ten years ago I began formally writing down my yearly goals. I had recently become a manager at work for the first time and realized that I was unprepared for the task. I began listening to a podcast called Manager Tools and it really taught me a lot, including how to set annual goals. From that point forward, I would think and document my annual goals at the beginning of the year. I would make a bunch of plans and execute a few of them and it was good. ...

A few weeks back I started on an agentic journey with the Udemy offering The Complete Agentic AI Engineering Course. This has been a great hands-on offering. I’ve completed 4 of the 6 weeks covering OpenAI Agents SDK, CrewAI, and LangGraph as well as some foundational theory. Throughout the course, the instructor Ed Donner has done a great job teaching enthusiastically and providing real world code that demonstrates the concepts of each framework. ...

This morning I woke up early and drove over to the Pearson Vue testing center early. It is a Friday, but I took the day off from work to take take the AWS Data Engineer Associate Certification Test. I took it for the second time today. Clearly I did not pass the test the first time. I don’t know at this point if I’ve passed the test this time, or not. In my experience it generally takes until the end of the day to receive the results of an AWS certification test. I took the test this morning at 8 am and an finished around 2 hours later. Now it’s almost 1 in the afternoon and I’ve had a little time to think about my experience. ...

I recently posted that I took and failed the AWS Data Engineer Associate Certification test on May 9th. I also posted about my experience on Linked In. The post was not the typical certificate of achievement. I failed the test. But the support that I received from the Linked In community was overwhelming, thank you. Thank you all of your support! A good number of you reminded me that failure is only a failure if you quit, otherwise it is feedback. This is great advice and I have taken it to heart. I have scheduled a re-take of the certification test on June 20th. ...

I’ve been wanting to learn more about artificial intelligence and in particular agentic AI. This past week I started a training on udemy called The complete Agentic AI Engineering Course by Ed Donner and Ligency Team. The class is that it doesn’t tout itself as a “Learn everything about agentic AI in 30 Days” or “4 hours to AI Engineer”. Those types of titles typically indicate that the training is either very high level or filled with fluff (sometimes both). ...

Yesterday, I mentioned took the AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate Certification exam. Honestly, I felt pretty good about it after taking it. Leading up to the exam, I was unsure and had practice tests telling me once day that I would pass and the next day that I would fail. It left me in a place where I was unsure about my readiness to take the test. The morning of the test and the day before, I passed practice exams with a score of 80% and I felt pretty good. I also discovered an oddity in one of the third-party practice exams that I took. The same question appeared twice in the instance of the exam that I took, but with different answers each time. ...

Today I joined the AWS Card Clash: Gen AI Battles | S1 E1 | Model Access Showdown on LinkedIn. This session demoed the AWS Card Clash learning game available on AWS SkillBuilder. The session was hosted by Curtis Morton, Jason Cuddy, and Brittany Wolfrom. AWS Card Clash is a fun and engaging card game that pits two players against each other to complete architecture diagrams. Some of the things that I liked about this as a learning activity are: ...

Recently I posted about how [[I take the AWS Data Engineer - Associate exam in 5 days]]. My concern is that even though I’ve been studying for a couple months now, when I take some practice exams I am failing. These failures impact my confidence in my ability to pass the exam this Friday. Since this post, I’ve continued to practice my failed answers using flashcards. I’ve also been taking a new practice exam daily. ...

A bold reboot I’m setting out on this journey, again, to become a better writer, learn, and hopefully help others along the way.