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There is a board game that has been described as “a classic deduction game”; the rules are deceptively simple, but amazingly complex. The player who wins the game must be “flexible, yet reliable,” and must be willing and able to record even the tiniest bit of information about the mystery in detail. The game is “Sleuth,” named for the clever players who like to solve intricate mysteries. “Sleuth” may also be a proper way to describe the subject of this DBAzine.com podcast interview, Jonathan Lewis. He is a longtime Oracle consultant, an Oracle Ace, author of many articles and two important Oracle books, Practical Oracle 8i: Building Efficient Databases and, most recently, Cost-Based Oracle Fundamentals. And he likes to solve mysteries — complex, detailed mysteries about why the Oracle database does what it does and how it can be designed and utilized to do its work better.

Lewis is distinguished even among the select group of Oracle elite, being at once a pragmatic problem-solver with the natural curiosity of a scientist. He not only likes to solve database problems, but likes to find ways to avoid problems altogether by understanding Oracle in detail, down to the bones of how it works. And in this interview, both the pragmatist and the scientist come through in thoughtful, creative answers he gives on a variety of questions, on topics ranging from why he decided to write his most recent book on Oracle, to what kinds of misconceptions he frequently sees as a consultant, to what he believes the future will hold for the professional DBA.

So, tune in as DBAzine.com spends some time with Jonathan Lewis, a genuine Oracle sleuth who is as disarmingly casual as he is intellectually savvy, about the nature of the database industry, about the Oracle database, and about the people who are behind it at every level, from creators to designers to administrators.

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Resources

JL Computer Consultancy

Apress

Bio

Jonathan Lewis has been involved in database work for more than 19 years, specializing in Oracle for the last 16 years, and working as a consultant for the last 12 years. Jonathan is currently a director of the UK Oracle User Group (UKOUG) and is well known for his many presentations at the UKOUG conferences and SIGs. As an Oracle Ace, he is also renowned for his tutorials and seminars about the Oracle database engine, which he has held in various countries around the world.

Jonathan authored the book Practical Oracle 8i (Addison-Wesley, 2001), and he writes regularly for the UKOUG magazine and occasionally for other publications, including OTN and DBAZine. He also finds time to publish Oracle-related material on his Web site, JL Computer Consultancy.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer