It Lives!
When I was on the MySQL Documentation team one thing started to become apparent to me: the MySQL Reference Manual was exactly what it claimed to be: a document better suited to referencing than teaching new users. I make very good use of it because I know MySQL, I know what it can do, and all I want is the right syntax for what I am trying to use it for.
I saw a need for a User Guide, something well suited to new users who were not experienced with MySQL and potentially with DBMSes in general. As a side project I started working on a chapter of what could eventually be a MySQL produced user guide, lacking the depth of the reference manual but more suitable for newer users. This first chapter was on Indexing and while I think it showed promise, I left MySQL AB shortly after completing it.
Fast forward to today, where I see a blog post by Colin Charles announcing a wiki-based community-powered User Guide project and lo and behold, the first completed content is a slightly retooled version of my indexing chapter.
I’m glad to see this getting off the ground, especially as a community project. Now hopefully some people will rally together and pick up the torch, helping to create something that is useful to the new user community.
(I do find it funny that the first line in the indexing chapter is “Note: Experienced users may wish to skip this section.” I’d think the whole point is that experienced users will probably want to skip the entire document.)
