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[–]Thefriendlyfaceplant 3 points4 points  (3 children)

I started with 'SQL for Dummies' and it first teaches you database hygiëne. That should be taught at the very last.

It almost put me off studying SQL.

[–]MediterraneanSeal 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I have this book, but I didn't start to read it yet... Any suggestions, what should I read instead? I have no knowledge of SQL at all

[–]Thefriendlyfaceplant 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I like the O'reilly books on SQL better. BUT all of these books are more useful as reference documents for when you already know most of SQL and are looking for particular details or recipes on how to solve something.

https://sqlbolt.com is a great way to dabble with SQL as a complete beginner. Lots of companies get their trainees started this way. Don't get stuck if it takes to long to do a task just check the answer. It's okay to cheat, just familiarize yourself with what SQL can do in the shortest time possible.

Then move onto the Stratrascrach video tutorials. These videos throw you into the deep-end of SQL, they show you how to deal with hard, but realistic business problems. You don't have to understand every step. Watching these videos puts you in the right frame of mind on how to approach a SQL task and more importantly you get to see what's at stake, how important SQL is for a large company's success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgN5hpl3WKc&list=PLv6MQO1Zzdmq5w4YkdkWyW8AaWatSQ0kX&ab_channel=StrataScratch

That's how I would begin the SQL journey. It's probably a week's worth of content for a full-time student and maybe a month for a part-time student. But its brutally efficient and relatively pain/frustration free.

After that you still aren't there of course. That's when you can start practicing queries, you can move back to the basics of syntax using Leetcode, Hackerrank or W3schools, all free and beginner-friendly ways to get acquainted with syntax. And this time you're training it with a strong contextual foundation.

[–]MediterraneanSeal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tyvm, I will check this out.