For an instructor lead, in-depth look at learning SQL click below.
Welcome to the world of SQL! SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a universal language designed for managing data in relational database management systems (RDBMS), or for processing streams of data in real-time RDBMS. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business analyst, a data scientist, or a software developer, understanding SQL will enable you to interact effectively with databases and provide insightful data analysis. So, let’s start our journey.
What is SQL?
SQL is used to communicate with and manipulate databases. It is primarily used with relational database systems, and offers a way to create, update, manage, and retrieve data in a more efficient manner.
Basic Commands
There are several basic SQL commands that you need to understand to start working with SQL. Some of these include: SELECT, INSERT INTO, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER TABLE, CREATE DATABASE, CREATE TABLE, WHERE, AND, OR etc. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these.
SELECT
In SQL, the SELECT statement is used to select data from a database. The data returned is stored in a results table (called the result-set).
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SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name; |
This SQL statement selects the “column1”, “column2” … from the “table_name”.
INSERT INTO
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new data into a database.
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INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3, ...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3, ...); |
Conclusion
Learning SQL can seem daunting at first, but with practice, it gets easier. This guide covers the very basic aspects of SQL, but there’s much more to explore, like JOINs, GROUP BY, HAVING, aggregate functions, etc. It’s okay not to understand everything at once. Programming and database management is a learning process. You’ll definitely get there with determination and consistent learning!