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Welcome to our SQL Crash Course for Absolute Beginners. If you’ve been looking for an easy-to-understand, step-by-step guide to get you started with SQL, you’re in the right place. By the end of this post, you’ll have a good grasp of the basics of SQL.
What is SQL?
SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a standard programming language specifically designed for managing and manipulating databases. It is used by a large number of applications and organizations to make sense of their data.
Getting Started with SQL Statements
The most common SQL statements include “SELECT”, “UPDATE”, “DELETE”, “INSERT”, and “WHERE”. For simplicity, let’s start with the “SELECT” statement.
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SELECT * FROM Employees; |
This statement will select all the data from the table “Employees”. “*” stands for “all” here.
Using the WHERE clause
“WHERE” is used to filter records. It extracts only those records that fulfill a specified condition. Below is an example:
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SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Salary > 50000; |
This code will fetch all employees who have a salary more than 50000.
Using INSERT statement
The INSERT statement is used to insert new records into a table. For instance, let’s insert a new record into the Employees’ table:
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INSERT INTO Employees (EmployeeID, Name, Position, Salary) VALUES (5, 'James', 'Assistant', 40000); |
This will create a new record in the Employees table, with James who is an Assistant and earns a salary of 40000, being the new Employee with ID 5.
UPDATE Statement
You can update existing records in a table by using the “UPDATE” statement:
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UPDATE Employees SET Salary = 60000 WHERE EmployeeID = 5; |
This statement will update the salary of the employee with EmployeeID = 5 to 60000.
Conclusion
Getting started with SQL might seem overwhelming at first, but with practice, you’ll find it becomes second nature. I hope this crash course has given you the basics you need to start exploring the possibilities with SQL.