It’s been over a year since we released Cockroach University. In that time, we’ve launched two new developer courses, hired a full team of training professionals, and planned out a comprehensive roadmap for the future.
Over 6,000 developers, architects, engineers, and other tech professionals have enrolled in one or more Cockroach University classes. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback so far but one comment we heard over and over again is that our students would appreciate shorter courses that focus on different skill sets.
So, we took our students’ advice and split the inaugural Getting Started course into two parts: Introduction to CockroachDB and Distributed SQL and Practical First Steps with CockroachDB.
Which course is right for me?
We encourage beginners and anyone who is brand new to distributed SQL and CockroachDB to start with Introduction to CockroachDB and Distributed SQL.
This course does not involve any coding and is ideal for non-technical roles who are interested in learning the concepts behind distributed databases and CockroachDB.
In Introduction to CockroachDB and Distributed SQL, you learn:
- What differentiates distributed SQL from both legacy SQL & NoSQL databases
- How CockroachDB ensures consistent transactions without sacrificing scale & resilience
- The key functionality that brings people to CockroachDB
- & more!
The second course, Practical First Steps with CockroachDB, is hands-on and will provide all the tools you need to get started with CockroachDB. If you are familiar with SQL, that will help you along the way, but it’s not required.
Practical First Steps with CockroachDB teaches:
- How to spin up a cluster
- How to use the Admin UI to monitor cluster activity, and
- How to use SQL shell to solve a set of hands-on exercises
- & more!
Ultimately, both courses are useful basics for developers and great training tools for managers to share with their teams. They each take around 1 hour - 90 minutes to complete and they are self-paced. Because CockroachDB is Postgres-wire compatible, it speaks SQL and has a familiar look and feel to many students.
We also want to remind you that all Cockroach University courses are FREE! You can use Cockroach University to save the time and money it would cost to introduce a new technology.
What happens when I complete the course(s)?
After completing each course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion. We encourage you to share your Certificate of Completion on LinkedIn (tag @cockroach-labs) or Twitter (tag @cockroachDB) to show off your new skills!
Once you pass the final exam for Practical First Steps with CockroachDB you will be eligible to win a free swag bag. Remember to check your email for the Certificate of Completion and swag form!
What other courses are available?
As we mentioned before, we also have two developer courses available: Fundamentals of CockroachDB for Java Developers and Fundamentals of CockroachDB for Python Developers.
During both of these courses, you will build a full-stack ride sharing application either in Python or Java. As the course progresses, you will add features one by one until you have a highly functional application that is ready to track vehicles and users at scale.
Before taking either of the developer courses, you should have experience with Java or Python application development. It is also helpful to be familiar with SQL and CockroachDB.
What’s next?
Are you ready to get started with Cockroach University or try out one of our new courses? You can sign up or login to your account here.
In the coming months, we have many more courses planned including a course for javascript/node.js developers and a course focused on schema design. Follow us on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter) for more updates on Cockroach University and new courses.
We hope you enjoy your experience with Cockroach University and always welcome your feedback. If you have questions or thoughts you would like to share, we encourage you to join the #cockroach-university channel in our CockroachDB Community Slack, where our team is available to chat.
