Databases in modern companies

[RedPillow]

This really interests me, because Im on-the-job learning and these guys here use databases daily, hourly and minutely.
Every single PC has a tiny client running, to retrieve data from a sector they want, with any PC they want and from any PC they want.
Every log and everything they do is saved automatically to a database, they use databases to list files and a handly program called ORACLE.

Why I am so interested then ?
Because they told us on school, that you`re really gonna need databases daily when you get your job.
I didn`t believe this, but they are actually more than needed !

So.
What do you think of this, is it handy and fast - or maybe complicated and stupid ?
What would be your choise to share and save data ?

[mitzevo]

I like to save data in bases. <- Usually website data, all other things I use .docs, .txts, etc. Plain text with a layer of encryption is all good for me.

[40hz]

Are you asking if you'll be using databases where you'll be working? The answer to that is : yes.

If you're asking if you'll need to know how to design or program for databases, then it all depends on what career you want to pursue.

[CWuestefeld]

Virtually everything uses a database of some form or other.

Sometimes it's an app-specific library that was developed just for a given purpose. Sometimes it's a relational DB like Oracle (or SQL Server, or MySQL, etc.). And now the "NoSQL" databases like Cassandra and CouchDB are popping up.

But broadly speaking, if you need to store your data at all -- and who doesn't -- then you'll be using a database of some ilk.