Dave Moore now works as lead programmer for EA Arts. He was recently a product architect at BMC Software. As the inventor of BMC’s DBXray product, he has developed many products that assist Oracle DBAs and Developers. He has experience as a developer specializing in Oracle, Java and PL/SQL, and responsible for Space Expert, SQL Explorer and SmartDBA Cockpit. He is a recognized Oracle ACE, a frequent speaker at Oracle technical conferences around the world including IOUG, Oracle OpenWorld as well as many local user groups throughout the United States and Australia.

Before joining EA Arts, Dave was at NEON Enterprise Software.  Before that, he served as vice-president of research and development for Database-Brothers Inc., specializing in performance and auditing solutions for Oracle and DB2.

He has been using Oracle since 1991, frequently contributes technical articles to online and print magazines he is the co-author with Don Burleson, of ‘Oracle Utilities’ written for senior Oracle professionals

RM:

Dave, you’re well known for being the developer behind DBXray, what inspired you to create it? Was there a particular problem you were trying to solve?

DM:

Yes, at the time we had a very large scale and infrastructure product that we provided to monitor and manage databases, applications and operating systems. This required a lot of infrastructure, training and staff for our customers and as a result we were losing in the market to lighter weight offerings. “Time to Benefit” became a key motivator for our customers as well as lower cost. My VP was able to give me high level objectives and then quarantined me and my team to get it done.  Six months later DBXray was in the market and doing well.

RM:

If you had the chance to re-design it now, would you do anything differently?

DM:

As an engineer, there is always something you would do differently or like to improve. I think I would have focused a little less on graphical displays and more on automatic problem solving.  Customers loved the graphics and animation but at the end of the day it comes down to ‘how many problems did you solve for me?’. By providing more insight and repairing problems automatically before they occurred would have created an even more compelling product.

RM:

As you know Craigslist is a great advertisement for open-source technology because most of the site is programmed in Perl but it looks like other businesses are embracing the PowerShell juggernaut. Is it the end for Python and Perl?

DM:

Maybe for Python and Perl on Windows machines, but that’s not where these scripting languages are used the most.  Most applications I have worked on and all of the databases I supported were on Unix or Linux. Even on Windows, many folks tend to use Cygwin for some of the same functionality.

RM:

Describe to me your idea of the perfect DBA? What sort of qualities should they have?

DM:

The perfect DBA should have a wide range of knowledge in software architectures, development methodologies, scalability and performance. Of course they must be an expert in SQL and all things database. Most importantly they need a blend of the technical skills and communication skills so they can work with development teams and upper management most effectively. Knowing how developers build software makes them a better DBA. Knowing how to work with developers and educate them in SQL and database details makes them a better DBA. Being able to communicate to management about database related issues (architecture, hardware, security, disaster recovery) and how it relates to the business makes them a great DBA.

RM:

Who do you regard as your ‘touchstone’ the person who has taught you most about what you know today and the person you rely on as a mentor?

DM:

Without question the person that has taught me the most would be Dave Ensor. Dave was a top Oracle practitioner in the world and I figured if I could learn half as much as he knew then I’d be in good shape. Dave mentored me in the world of Oracle and for that I am eternally thankful. He was based in the UK and I would constantly bounce ideas off of him, most of which were rejected wholeheartedly. That is also when I learned the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of them – it’s a numbers game. I learned from the best.

RM:

What things in your career would you have done differently? And what achievements are you most proud of?

DM:

Everything I’ve done and everywhere I’ve worked enabled me to learn a lot.  Even what turned out to be a bad decision at the time created learning opportunities that I would not have obtained any other way.  I’m proud of all of the products that I was involved in creating for many years in the enterprise software business.   However, I’m most proud of something that I have yet to accomplish – the challenge that I face right now for building a solid platform for a major online game.

RM:

What is the future for MySQL now that it’s part of Oracle? Do you think MySQL needs a different home than Oracle and do think it should be developed further?

DM:

There’s an obvious market out there for a low-end database for applications that don’t need all of the bells and whistles that comes with a database like Oracle. For those apps that simply use the database as a persistence layer accessible by SQL, solutions like MySQL will work fine. It’s questionable about how much it needs to be developed because the more robust it gets, the more it starts going head to head with those databases that are way ahead of it. It has its niche.

RM:

COBOL turned 50 a few weeks ago and some companies are still relying on a half-century-old invention to handle large chunks of their dealings. Have you come across any businesses that still use COBOL for development or maintenance?

DM:

Thankfully, no. This interview is now terminated!

RM:

You’ve written several books in the past including Oracle Utilities which I notice you can read for free with Google Books. Did you agree with the class action lawsuit brought against Google by the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and others?

DM:

I probably should be more in tune with lawsuits involving things that might impact authors like me, but frankly I’m not.   I wrote the book because I had something to say and if I never made a dime on it I was okay with that. The biggest pleasure for me is running into folks that say “Hey, I liked your book and found it useful”. That’s why I did it – to provide value to others based on what I knew.

RM:

Are you planning to write other books?  What projects are you working on now?

DM:

There are those that write books or sing songs over and over, again and again. I write when I have something to say. And I have a lot to say but I’m not committing to anything at the moment except what I’m doing at my current job. I currently lead a team that is responsible for building and maintaining a platform for an online game. Star Wars: The Old Republic (www.swtor.com) is being developed by BioWare, a division within Electronic Arts. “Platform” involves the back office part of the game – these things include player authentication, billing, support, data warehousing, online marketplace and others. In order for the game to be successful, the platform piece must be reliable and scalable. This is by far the biggest challenge I’ve had to date and also the most fun.