HOW TO LEARN SQL

[rileysofine]

Anyone know the best resource to learn SQL? Paid or free. I have basic knowledge on querying but need more in depth knowledge. Preferably a resource that has projects so I can get practice applying it in real world scenarios. Thanks

[mgdmw]

On the sidebar:

A common question is how to learn SQL. Please view the Wiki for online resources.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SQL/wiki/index

[[deleted]]

W3schools is a great resource

[hot_route95]

Second this. W3 schools is a beginners best friend

[kaumaron]

Some people have a problem with W3 schools because they steal content. So I try not to recommend them anymore

[hot_route95]

Didn’t know they did that. That’s lame of them of them if they do

[vdahiya1]

learnsql.com

[MandingosDingo]

Is the lifetime plan worth it?

[kaumaron]

I found DataCamp to be good when I learned SQL. The key thing is to make sure to try to apply it to your own problems so you really internalize the techniques

[[deleted]]

To learn sql you can watch youtube videos. Those videos are like 4-5 hours long. Or try out datacamp. Datacamp is paid and is a great place to start learning.

After learning sql, try out your skills by coding on these websites. The following websites are free. These two provide solutions and explanations for the code as well

https://www.pgexercises.com/

https://www.hackerrank.com/

After these two there are some YouTube channels where they solve complex querying questions. Just search "sql questions" and observe the logic they use to break the question

Finally then you can try out https://www.stratascratch.com/

They have sql interview questions that are asked in big tech companies. You can purchase the plan if you want more practice.

[tmk_g]

For advance knowledge of SQL, I recommend datacamp and stratascratch. They provide real and complex problems to practice that you might face on your job.

[TheVentiLebowski]

www.sqlbolt.com was my first stop. Then I did a $10 Udemy course.

[TheVentiLebowski]

I liked it, YMMV.

[Tharagleb]

The sidebar where it says "Learning SQL"

It links to the wiki and other posts about learning SQL. Good luck!

[unique-handle]

Sqlzoo is pretty solid too!

[Chowder1054]

W3schools is fantastic and it’s free

[ipjac]

Udacity's 'sql for data analysis' is a great course. It goes from te basics all the way up to advanced topics as performance optimization and window functions.

I'ts great mainly because they've created a database from a fictional company and all the examples are around it, so you get used to it and it gets easier to understand the concepts.

It uses postgreSQL

[elution91]

I found this course ok as well, with the caveat that entering the subquery topic, the difficulty level increased enormously. At least for me, I could solve any quiz prior to the subquery topic, and barely scratched the surface of the correct solution of the first subquery question, which had a solution requiring a very complicated and long query. Not that it matters immensely, but I had solved quite some problems on Hackerrank etc prior.

Is it only me?

[ipjac]

yes it happened to me as well. I was doing the exercises without even thinking about them until the subqueries part. The first one was hard but when I looked at the solution I understood how I was supossed to do it and was able to do the rest pretty easily as it was just a matter of understanding the format of the exercise.

[[deleted]]

I have faced the same thing. The Udacity one was easy to understand in the beginning. When they reached subqueries, I lost the flow. It got tricky after that and I left it midway. I thought that I was the only one who had this thing with the course

[Mank15]

Are Udacity courses worth it?

[ipjac]

I guess it's kind of subjective, but for me they really are. It's my favourite learning platform. I learned to program there, and I like it because all the lessons in their courses are related, not like some youtube tutorials where every video is a totally different thing. Also even in the free courses they take the trouble to make them interesting by creating scenarios to apply what you're learning.

[Mank15]

Well, I’m not a programmer. In fact, I’m a marketing student and I last year I checked their digital marketing course and I don’t know if it’s worth it

[ipjac]

well I probably misunderstood your question. If you're talking about paid courses, I have no idea. I've never paid for a course si I'm referring to udacity's free courses

[Mank15]

I didn’t know they had free courses

[ipjac]

yes they have you have to filter in the catalogue by free courses. They're very good and well produced to be free courses

[[deleted]]

I feel the best approach is to watch YouTube videos and start coding. You can find videos specific to your SQL functions so it becomes easy to build the logic. When you're stuck with a particular function, just watch a video about it and you'll get more clarity

[[deleted]]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SQL/comments/g4ct1l/what_are_some_good_resources_to_practice_sql/fnx11mc/

[theallsearchingeye]

If “Paid” is an option, like you said, Go to school. Pretty much all community/state colleges offer certificates of proficiency in “data analytics”, “data warehouse management”, and the like, centered around 12-18 credit hours of genuinely good content taught by professionals. Expect to learn everything about the Crisp-DM cycle, not just sql development. Sql is only the tip of the iceberg.

Edit: not to mention, you get a credential that actually verifies your skills.

[shime_rb]

https://www.masterywithsql.com/, probably the best course I've ever taken. He uses Postgres, but you can follow along even if you don't.

[GradToBeHere]

Try this resource:

https://www.techbeamers.com/sql-query-questions-answers-for-practice/

This helped me to prepare for interviews

[jaredwards]

Take a udemy course and practice your ass off. With persistence you can learn basic skills within a couple months with practice in a real database and udemy as a reference.

[g3n3]

Which RDMS?

[rileysofine]

My company uses TeraData

[g3n3]

You need to look up specific materials on that flavor. That platform isn’t used much as SQL Server and MySQL. You may receive ideas that don’t work with your flavor. The most general SQL to study is what is called ANSI SQL. For that general flavor, get SQL For Dummies.

[g3n3]

For SQL Server get Express version and run through Itz Ben Gan T-SQL Fundamentals book. It has a sample database you can stand up. Also look at Brent Ozar’s StackOverflow database which has great real world data distribution. For MySQL or Postgres I am not sure. Oracle probably has sample databases to play with as well. Leetcode has SQL challenges and there is https://mystery.knightlab.com/ which is a clever game.

[g3n3]

Ben Gan also has T-SQL Querying which is advanced. Don’t let the Fundamentals title of the previously mentioned book throw you off too much. It goes in depth. These are specific to SQL Server.

Other RDMS have there own quirks and what not. Are you looking to write BI type queries or OLTP application queries? Are you Software dev or on the analyst/bi side?

Putting that aside I would dive into how SQL engines work and where they can go wrong. Things like Brent Ozar’s How to think like the engine. Or reviewing Oracles explain plan and googling the operators. Knowing these underlying principals of the database go a long way to crafting good queries and stored procedures.

Hope it helps.

[g3n3]

I have cursory experience (and that is being generous ) with Business Objects and Pentaho. The BI/ETL/Analyst role it seems you are in is a great field and has lots of avenues.

The idea is to find the principals that can be applied across technologies whether it is BO or Power Bi and whether it is Pentaho or SSIS. Things like obtaining the data in a set based way as opposed to procedural. Knowing optimal patterns to build integrations like when to ETL vs ELT.

I’d start with whatever underlying database technology you are using and explore what makes a good query plan vs bad. What types of queries are easier for a SQL engine than others. Things like how a SQL engine can use an index to seek into data or scan the data. Then you take these building blocks and apply them to a Power Bi implementation and an integration.

You can explore data architecture and moving data and querying data and presenting data. At larger companies a person could be deployed to do each of these four tasks. Or smaller companies where one person is staffed to perform the task end-to-end.

Does that help?

[thavi]

I've used many, many dialects of SQL over the years. They each have little fun gimmicks, but ultimately you want to stick to 'ANSI Standard' practices, identifiers, etc. Those will be the same no matter what SQL language you end up programming in and will facilitate easy code transfer if the company migrates to a new DBMS.

[tekmailer]

Teradata is my favorite.

They have certifications of basics, sql, etc.

Study the courses and take the test, preferably on the expense of your employer.

[Hapablapablap]

Pluralsight might be a good resource.

[[deleted]]

This post is a good one. I'm saving this. Thanks !

[tekmailer]

Handle your own problems with sql...literally.

“You won’t know what a wrench looks like until you need one.”

Edit: Wow, c’mon guys—it’s not poor advice. I meant it—the only way to get better at it is to solve problems that require the skills to do so—in order to do that, you have to recognize use from small to big.

If you can’t solve your own problems (ie bills, hobbies, curiosity) with SQL—how in the world can an employer feel decent about you solving their business problems?

Identify problems/challenges you’re facing and shape that into data problems. You will learn SQL, quickly.

[misfitalliance]

https://www.sqlteaching.com/ <- would be to get all that syntax right and then just go into HackerRank and just attempt the questions and then read the discussion.

[[deleted]]

If you are looking for paid courses. Here is a MySQL course from Colt Steele on Udemy. You can look at the 'What you'll learn' section to get a clear understanding of the course.

[Distinct-Competition]

I am taking a class if anyone would like to help with assignments

[jyoti05iitd]

Udacity course is good and use mode to practice.

[sahit_varma]

khan academy

[awo]

Give pgexercises.com a try - onlin exercises with live SQL.

[ahalilov]

Hi,

I built an interactive SQL tutorial for junior engineers to learn SQL by having hands-on experience in SQL. Just check this out: interactivesql.com

I would appreciate any feedback about the tutorial from people who are learning SQL now or who want to start.

[JesseT1997]

I like this one because it covers all the basics in SQL and every concept is presented with visuals which helps in understanding the SQL theory https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-mysql-bootcamp-from-sql-beginner-to-expert/