Tom via AccessMonster.com said:
Im sitting here in front of my computer, Ive been here all day. Next to me is
about $200 worth of Access books, and a stack of Access information I printed
off the internet. ive just finished a community college class on Access, I
got an "A", (what a joke). Here I sit, and I still cant make one database.
This has got to be one of the most frustrating things Ive ever attempted. Im
not sure if I going to just give up tring to learn Access or not. After all
the time and effort I have put in I hate the thought of just quiting. I guess
all I can do is write this post. I feel like Im right on the verge of
understanding, but how long do I wait for that.
Just had to get it out...
Tom
It isn't specifically Access that's hard, it's the whole business of
programming and database design. Believe me, if you tried, say, SQL Server
and VB.Net, you would see that Access is in fact relatively easy!
I used to teach courses in programming, databases and so forth. There were
no entry requirements, anyone who paid up and turned up got to take the
course. I taught classes of 20 on 30-hour courses, and I had a rule of
thumb that in every group of 20, there would be 2 students who would find it
ridiculously easy and would finish the course in less than half the time,
there would be 2 students who would NEVER finish the course, no matter how
hard they tried, and the remainder would get there in the available time
with varying levels of struggle.
It isn't Access' fault that grasping the concepts of database design and
programming demands a certain aptitude. If this were not the case, then
doing it professionally wouldn't be so (relatively) well-paid.
Unfortunately, the fact that Access is part of Microsoft Office leads a lot
of people to think that using it in a basic way should be as easy as the
basics of Word or Excel (any Access professional will have seen many
examples of terrible one-table databases because someone though that Access
was just Excel with knobs on!).
If you are determined to grasp it, I would echo the advice given by some
others: forget about Access for the time being, and try to get to grips with
relational database design. Otherwise, you will be like a mechanic who
knows how to use a wrench but hasn't a clue how an engine works.