[glxybstr]

>Clearly, there are people still interested in Access, even if it’s only because they’re trying to untangle the mess left for them by a previous generation of hobbyist programmer.

My job function entails extending and maintaining an MS Access database that our small company still uses as its primary tool for data entry and reporting. It started on Access 97, moving up through a few new releases until about 2010, which we stayed on until just this year. It's now working with the O365 edition. It was first developed by someone with no previous experience, referencing a copy of Access 97 for Dummies. I learned on the job just by poking around - which is now, I think, the biggest pain point for how we use the software: how exposed everything is. Prior to this role, our company would contract out for development: we'd come up with a big list of things we want, and it would be done and deployed within a couple week's time, although it usually took many revisions to get right. Now that I am able to do this development work in-house, things go much more smoothly as I also work with the day-to-day processes the tool is used for, and I have a grasp on how systems operate within our office. It's very important to have database tools with a low barrier to entry, so I think there would always be some market for this; where it really shines is its straightforward reporting and form editing capabilities, along with its user-friendly query designer. Being able to generate complex datasets without having to think about SQL (though still being able to write SQL!) is powerful.

(as an aside, I feel that I'm ready to move on from my role, but my abilities with Access don't seem exactly desirable or hireable, and as the article describes, there's always a looming threat of it going away someday. I was given a title of "Database Administrator" from higher-ups who think of Access as some esoteric ability, although gambits for pay raise so far have been fruitless. I see it more like ability in using Excel. I have some experience with MySQL via personal projects and programming in PHP, but I wouldn't call myself a dba if I'm being honest with myself. I feel a little stuck by not having the abilities to match my job title when searching for new positions, and if I'm going to the trouble of getting a new job, I don't want a lateral move with the same compensation. The wise thing to do would be to learn competence in proper database tools. I'm young, without a degree, and any advice would be welcome)

[alexhutcheson]

If you want to learn to do similar work (CRUD apps that talk to a DB) in "real" languages, then I would recommend learning Ruby on Rails[1] or Django[2]. The overall concepts should be really familiar, because they're similar to the workflow you'd use in Access, but you'll learn web development and a marketable programming language along the way. You'll probably also pick up details about how to structure a database that would be useful for your work in Access. Of the two, I think Rails is easier to get started with, but Python is probably more marketable.

If you want to do a deep-dive into Computer Science and transition to a full-time software role, then you might want to look into Lambda School[3]. I don't have personal experience with them, but several people I trust claim their results are excellent.

[1] https://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html

[2] https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.2/intro/tutorial01/

[3] https://lambdaschool.com/courses/full-stack-web-development