Continuing education (cont.)

The PL/SQL course I took in the fall finished up in December, and I did indeed opt to take another course from the same instructor this term. It's not the one I was originally thinking about (which I think was database administration) -- this is another hybrid course that meets only every other week, Server-Side Programming using PHP and MySQL. Of course, if I were clairvoyant I could have registerd for two or three courses this term, as it appears I will have loads of unanticipated free time (i.e., time that I don't get paid for, which is currently all of it). On the other hand, tuition costs money, which is not something I'll have loads of.

One of the nice things about this course is that the textbook for it isn't really a textbook; it's one of the Peachpit Press "Visual QuickPro Guide" series of computer books. That means that it does not cost $75-$100 like a real textbook does. It's a much more manageable $40 list, and Amazon, bless its little heart, had it for 40% off. Astute (and mathematically inclined) readers will have figured out that that's only $24, a real bargain for a "textbook" these days. And the software is all open source and free.

And if that's not enough, I should note that the software even runs on my beloved Mac. No wrestling with Windows this time around. What's not to love? (Well, the videos the instructor posts as supplemental material to the in-class lectures run only in Windows, but I tend to ignore them anyway, as they rarely cover anything I can't get out of the book.)

Maybe, with any luck, all these classes I've been taking will be a plus on my resume. I'm going to need all the pluses I can get.