Learning SQL Programming

- [Scott] Our world is driven by data and a lot of that data is stored in databases. In order to unlock the information and insights stored in databases, we need a way of asking for data. One common language for asking about and modifying data in databases is SQL. SQL in some form or another is used in database products across the spectrum. From small SQLite databases in mobile devices to my MySQL servers, hosting data for blogs and other apps, to enterprise scale Oracle and Microsoft SQL server databases running multi-billion dollar corporations.

But the same basic language underlies all of these. In this course, I'll explain what SQL is, and take you through an introduction to the language. You'll see how to ask questions of databases in a structured way to get the information that you need. We'll focus on the language itself, not any particular tool. And the amount of setup you'll need to do in order to get started is minimal. The goal for this course is to get you comfortable working with the basics of the language, using a database that already exists. We'll look at how to get information from more than one database table, and I'll introduce some more features and functions of SQL.

After that, we'll take a look at adding and modifying data in tables that already exist in a database. And we'll end with a quick look at overcoming some common pitfalls in working with SQL. This course will help prepare you to work with SQL in programming or data reporting applications, and it will provide a foundation for deeper learning about database administration, advanced SQL, and developing with data. Let's go.