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If you’re interested in moving into a career in data, you probably know this using data effectively to answer business questions is at the heart of most data professions – regardless of the tools you use. By building the right skill set, you can land a job as a data analyst and gradually explore other roles such as data scientist, BI analyst, and the like. So where should you start?
Do you need to learn a programming language like Python or R? Or should you dive right into learning a BI tool like Tableau? Or is it SQL?
Well, SQL is THAT tool you need to know—and arguably the most important skill—in multiple data professions from data analyst to data scientist to data engineer. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of beginner-friendly courses to learn the basics of SQL in a few hours.
Intro to SQL: Querying and Managing Data is a course you can take for free at Khan Academy. You will learn how to query and manipulate data in relational database tables.
This course includes several small lessons followed by challenges that test your understanding. The course is organized into sections as follows:
- The Basics of SQL the section covers basics such as creating tables and inserting data, querying data, and aggregating.
- The More advanced SQL queries the section covers the logical operators, the IN and LIKE operators, and HAVING.
- The section Relational queries in SQL focuses on using different types of joins to use data from multiple tables to answer questions.
- The Modifying databases with SQL section teaches you how to modify table schemas with SQL.
Link: Introduction to SQL: Querying and Managing Data
If you prefer to learn from instructor-led video tutorials, then SQL Tutorial – Complete Database Course for Beginners is a good introduction to SQL.
In about 4.5 hours, you will learn both the basics of database design and querying databases with SQL. You will use MySQL, one of the most widely used relational database management systems (RDBMS).
First, you will explore database schema design and performing CRUD operations with SQL. Next, you’ll learn about aggregations, nested queries, joins, joins, functions, and triggers.
Link: SQL Tutorial – Complete Database Course for Beginners
Kaggle’s Intro to SQL course is also a good option if you prefer text lessons followed by exercises.
In this introductory SQL course, you’ll learn how to query datasets with SQL using the BigQuery Python client. Topics covered include:
- Basics of SQL
- Filtering
- Aggregations
- It is joining
- Writing readable SQL queries
Link: Introduction to SQL
SQL Tutorial by W3Schools is another great resource suitable for beginners to learn the basics of SQL commands and functions. The tutorial is organized into several small lessons, each focusing on a specific command or function. So you will learn what the commands are, how they work, followed by examples.
You can solve the examples in the online editor – without having to install anything in your local environment. This tutorial covers the basics of SQL, as well as the various logical operators, window functions, and more. Additionally, this also covers modifying database tables, constraints, etc.
This lesson is not only a learning resource but also a quick reference. So if you want to quickly look up the syntax and example usage of a particular function, this SQL tutorial is a reference you’ll probably want to bookmark.
Link: SQL Tutorial
SQLZoo is another beginner-friendly platform for learning and practicing SQL. From basic SELECT statements to advanced concepts like window functions, SQLZoo offers small tutorials with quick hands-on exercises in each.
Topics covered include:
- SELECT statement
- Aggregate functions
- JOIN types
- Understanding NULL
- Window functions
You also have a set of assessment questions with slightly more difficult SQL questions. Which you can take to test yourself.
Link: SQLZoo
I hope you found this compilation of free SQL courses useful. These courses are designed to get you up to speed on the basics of SQL in a few hours.
If you’re looking for free learning resources with a more advanced curriculum, here are a few summaries you might find useful:
These courses also require more effort on your part and usually take several weeks to complete. So keep learning and practicing!
Bala Priya S is a developer and technical writer from India. She enjoys working at the intersection of mathematics, programming, data science, and content creation. Her areas of interest and expertise include DevOps, data science, and natural language processing. She loves reading, writing, coding and coffee! She is currently working on learning and sharing her knowledge with the developer community by creating tutorials, how-to guides, opinion pieces, and more. Bala also creates engaging resource reviews and coding tutorials.
