For an instructor lead, in-depth look at learning SQL click below.
Welcome to the beginning of your journey into the world of SQL Server Management. SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a powerful language used for managing and manipulating databases. In this beginner’s guide, we will cover the basics of using SQL Server and provide some basic SQL code examples.
First Steps with SQL Server
To get started with SQL Server, first, you need to understand the concept of a database. A database is a structured set of data. So, a database server like SQL Server is a place where databases and its related files are stored.
SQL Syntax
SQL syntax is the code writing format of SQL. It’s in this syntax that we write instructions for the server to follow. Now, let’s start with a very basic SQL statement. The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database. The data returned is stored in a result table, sometimes called the result-set.
|
1 2 3 4 |
SELECT column_name,column_name FROM table_name; |
This SQL statement selects the “column_name” columns from the “table_name” table.
How to use SQL CREATE and INSERT INTO
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a new database in SQL. Here’s an example of how it’s used:
|
1 2 3 |
CREATE DATABASE testDB; |
After we create a database, we can create a table using the CREATE TABLE statement. For instance:
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
CREATE TABLE Students ( ID INT PRIMARY KEY, Name VARCHAR (20), Age INT ); |
The commands above create a database named ‘testDB’ and a table within this database named ‘Students’.
Then, to insert new data into this table, we use the INSERT INTO statement.
|
1 2 3 4 |
INSERT INTO Students (ID,Name,Age) VALUES (1,'John', 18); |
The above command inserts a row into the table ‘Students’ in database ‘testDB’.
The WHERE Clause
The WHERE clause is used to filter records. It’s a part of a SQL statement that is used to specify the parameters to narrow down our selection.
|
1 2 3 4 5 |
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name WHERE condition; |
This SQL statement selects the defined “columns” from the “table_name” table, but only selects the records where the defined condition is true.
SQL tools like SQL Server Management Studio provide a platform where you can write your code, run it, debug it and even fine-tune it.
Wrapping Up…
In this guide, we have covered just the basics of SQL Server Management. The world of SQL and databases is a complex and nuanced one, there is yet much more to learn. However, fear not. Just like any other language, practice makes perfect. Start off with these basic commands and slowly tackle more complex operations. Happy coding!