On MySQL Training Programs. Q&A with Scott Stroz
Q1. What is your role at Oracle?
I am a Developer advocate for MySQL. Some of my duties include producing content through blog posts and short form videos. I also get to speak at conferences. Coming from a developer background, my audience is more on the developer side of things. One of my main points of focus is to do outreach to younger/newer developers. One part of my job I really enjoy is when I do guest lectures at colleges or high schools. Talking directly with students and answering their questions is so fulfilling.
Q2. What are the differences between Oracle University and Oracle Academy?
Oracle University is the group at Oracle that is responsible for creating and maintaining certification exams and training for those exams. The training includes on demand video series focused on the knowledge that would help someone pass the certification exam.
Oracle Academy is the group at Oracle that is responsible for creating and maintaining curricula for college and high school classes. These curricula include lecture material, labs, and quizzes in a variety of formats.
Q3. What is the focus of Oracle University and of Oracle Academy?
While I think there may be a little bleed over between the focus of each, I think it is fair to say that Oracle Academy is more focused on academia and helping teachers and professors better prepare their students for careers in IT. Oracle university, on the other hand, is more focused on IT professionals and helping them advance their careers by through in-demand certifications and related training.
Q3. For Oracle University could you highlight the training that is available?
At Oracle University, there is training for a plethora of Oracle’s products and services. There is training available for Oracle Database, Java, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle AI, MySQL, and others.
For each of these offerings, there can be multiple training courses that focus on different aspects of the product or service. For example, for the MySQL training, there are courses that focus on security, database administration, HeatWave MySQL and others.
Q4. Please give some examples of non-certification training.
In Oracle University, there are learning paths for “Explorer” level badges. These explorer learning paths consist of free training and an assessment. When someone passes the assessment, they receive a virtual badge indicating they passed the assessment.
Two MySQL learning paths that are available are “MySQL Explorer” and “HeatWave MySQL Explorer”. The MySQL Explorer learning path provides an introduction to MySQL for database administrators or developers. The HeatWave MySQL provides an introduction to HeatWave MySQL – a fully managed database service that resides in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Q5. Let’s talk about the different certification exams: how do they differ, what do they cover, and how to prepare for them?
Currently, there are three different MySQL certification exams – MySQL Database Administrator, MySQL Database Developer, and MYSQL Implementation. The database administrator and database developer are “professional” level exams, and the implementation exam is an “associate” level exam.
The database administrator exam ensures that a person has the necessary knowledge of MySQL architecture and the skills to install and configure MySQL. It allows show that the person has the skills to monitor, maintain and secure MySQL databases. The exam also tests knowledge of query optimization, backup and restore strategies and high availability techniques.
The database developer exam focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to use MySQL connectors and APIs as well as how to support data-driven applications using MySQL. The exam shows the person can design, develop, and maintain MySQL schema objects and control SQL transactions. It also shows that the developer understands query optimization, how to create and execute stored programs, and manage JSON document storage using MySQL Document Store
Finally, the implementation exam shows that person can demonstrate MySQL features – on premise and in the cloud – as well as conduct technical discussions and proofs-of-concept. The exam also ensures that the person has a general understanding of installing MySQL, database design, high availability, replication, security, and backup and restore procedures.
Q6. For Oracle Academy, what curricula are currently available?
Like Oracle University, Oracle Academy has offerings for many Oracle products including Oracle Database, Apex, Java, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Inside Oracle Academy, there are different types of materials – Full course curriculum, workshops, and Academy Bytes.
The full course curriculum contains material for an entire college semester – or full year of high school. Workshops are typically multi-hour labs, while Bytes are designed to be completed in a single class session.
I think the most important thing to mention is that all the resources available at Oracle Academy are free – but a teacher or professor needs to be members to access them.
Q7. Please provide more details about the new forthcoming MySQL-specific curriculum.
While there is currently not a curriculum that is MySQL-specific, there are plans to offer one in the future.
I have authored a few Academy Bytes that are MySQL specific. One walks a student through downloading and installing MySQL and another that shows how to spin up a HeatWave MySQL instance and use an OCI Compute instance to connect to the new database.
Q8. How do you become a member of Oracle Academy?
Teachers or professors can only access Oracle Academy resources if their institution has become a member. More details for joining can be found at – https://academy.oracle.com/en/membership-join-oracle-academy.html
Before we wrap up, I’d like to leave everyone with some exciting news. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of MySQL’s first release, the Community Team, in collaboration with Oracle University, is offering something truly special—free MySQL training and free certification exams! This incredible opportunity runs until July 31, 2025, so don’t miss out. For all the details, visit https://education.oracle.com/mysql-promo. It’s the perfect way to celebrate this milestone and take your skills to the next level.
HeatWave is available now and enables customers to build generative AI apps at no additional cost without moving data. It allows developers to build apps with AI and it allows customers to bring differentiated solutions to market at better speed. You can now try HeatWave for free in the OCI Free Tier
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Scott Stroz, MySQL Advocate
Scott has been a full-stack developer for longer than the term “full-stack developer” has been around. In that time, MySQL was the only constant in his development stack. He is passionate about sharing what he has learned on his coding journey so others may learn from his mistakes.
Sponsored by MySQL/Oracle.