SQL QuickStart Guide

by Walter Shields

Timeline Unknown

Los Angeles, CA

Recommended by Paco R.

I recently entered the tech world of business, ending my role as an Urban Planner as an early career. This meant that I would no longer be looking at alternative transportation route designs and long technical papers for infrastructure megaprojects. Instead, I’d be looking at data, lot’s of it, packed into several excel sheets and dashboards. To get ready for all that required me to learn some new technicals skills that I never thought I would need, the first one being Structured Query Language (SQL), pronounced as “sequel.” I was entering a fast-paced environment that was competitive with absolutely no knowledge of this skill (I have coded using Python for urban informatics and spatial analysis in the past though), so I had to learn it fast and learn it well. I was recommended this book by the captain of the space force dream team to meet the initial demand, it helped me well. I was capable of passing each Data Analysis Checkpoint in the book at the first attempt, when I was tested for SQL, I passed.
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The book is interactive, you’ll need your laptop in front of you to follow the methods and examples. The author introduces himself and his story with words of encouragement before getting into the technical material. Part 1 is about creating an SQL learning environment, by understanding the database structure (terminology, types of data, etc), providing the SQL tools and strategies, and gives you a link to explore the example databases SQL platform to use. Part 2 is where you begin using the databases by getting started with queries, turning data into information, working with multiple tables, and using functions. Part 3 is where you get into the more advanced SQL topics, dealing with subqueries, using views, and practicing data manipulation language (DML). The book has a total of 8 data analysis checkpoints spread throughout the end of each technical chapter for you to independently practice what you learned and test your knowledge.