SQL Primer: An Accelerated Introduction to SQL Basics

Build a core level of competency in SQL so you can recognize the parts of queries and write simple SQL statements. SQL knowledge is essential for anyone involved in programming, data science, and data management. This book covers features of SQL that are standardized and common across most database vendors. You will gain a base of knowledge that will prepare you to go deeper into the specifics of any database product you might encounter.

Examples in the book are worked in PostgreSQL and SQLite, but the bulk of the examples are platform agnostic and will work on any database platform supporting SQL. Early in the book you learn about table design, the importance of keys as row identifiers, and essential query operations. You then move into more advanced topics such as grouping and summarizing, creating calculated fields, joining data from multiple tables when it makes business sense to do so, and more. Throughout the book, you are exposed to a set-based approach to the language and are provided a good grounding in subtle but important topics such as the effects of null value on query results.

With the explosion of data science, SQL has regained its prominence as a top skill to have for technologists and decision makers worldwide. SQL Primer will guide you from the very basics of SQL through to the mainstream features you need to have a solid, working knowledge of this important, data-oriented language.

What You’ll Learn

• Create and populate your own database tables
• Read SQL queries and understand what they are doing
• Execute queries that get correct results
• Bring together related rows from multiple tables
• Group and sort data in support of reporting applications
• Get a grip on nulls, normalization, and other key concepts
• Employ subqueries, unions, and other advanced features

Who This Book Is For

Anyone new to SQL who is looking for step-by-step guidance toward understanding and writing SQL queries. The book is aimed at those who encounter SQL statements often in their work, and provides a sound baseline useful across all SQL database systems. Programmers, database managers, data scientists, and business analysts all can benefit from the baseline of SQL knowledge provided in this book.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: An Introduction to SQL
Chapter 2: Getting Your Database Ready
Chapter 3: The Benefit of Constraints
Chapter 4: Operations on Tables
Chapter 5: Writing Basic Queries
Chapter 6: Manipulating Data
Chapter 7: Organizing Your Data
Chapter 8: Doing More with Queries
Chapter 9: Calculated Fields
Chapter 10: Aggregation and Grouping
Chapter 11: Understanding Joins
Chapter 12: Subqueries
Chapter 13: Working in Sets
Chapter 14: Views
Chapter 15: Indexing
Chapter 16: Access Control Statements
Appendix A: Further Reading
Appendix B: Database Management Systems and Tools
Appendix C: A History of SQL and Relational Databases