Learn to extract information from databases by writing SQL queries, joining tables, aggregating data, and filtering results. You'll learn PostgreSQL in this class, but the concepts apply equally to other databases such as SQL Server and MySQL.
Learn to extract information from databases by writing SQL queries, joining tables, aggregating data, and filtering results. You'll learn PostgreSQL in this class, but the concepts apply equally to other databases such as SQL Server and MySQL.
Learn the essential skills needed to become a Data Analyst or Business Analyst, including data analysis, data visualization, and statistical analysis. Gain practical experience through real-world projects and prepare for a successful career in the field of data analytics.
Learn how to extract information from databases and turn it into actionable insights by writing SQL queries, filtering data, and joining tables. This comprehensive SQL Server Bootcamp will teach you the fundamentals of SQL and how to apply them to various database systems.
Learn Python, SQL, automation, and machine learning to become a Data Scientist. Gain Python programming, data analysis, SQL querying, and predictive modeling skills. Perfect for beginners, this program prepares you for entry-level data science and Python engineering roles. Unlock high-paying job opportunities in the field of data science.
Learn to extract information from databases by writing SQL queries, joining tables, aggregating data, and filtering results. You'll learn PostgreSQL in this class, but the concepts apply equally to other databases such as SQL Server and MySQL.
Structured Query Language, or SQL, is a relational database programming language first invented in 1974. Relational databases store data in a table format, with tables in the same database linked by shared information. SQL’s commands create and alter these tables, and users can also create objects like views, indexes, and reports to access data. SQL’s structure makes it easy to implement in different programming environments and compatible with many existing languages and programs. It is also efficient for most types of data storage, manipulation, and retrieval, and scalable to any database size. As an open-source language, SQL is inexpensive to use and customize. It also includes multiple security features, including authentication and encryption. Together, these advantages make SQL the primary database language used for most data-processing tasks across multiple industries.
SQL can be part of any program that employs relational databases, including general data storage and analysis systems, financial software like QuickBooks, media applications like Spotify, or social media applications like X (formerly known as Twitter). It is also used for data management for many websites, including Facebook, in the form of database management systems (DBMSs). Many developers use MySQL, an open-source DBMS provided for free by Oracle. Microsoft offers SQL Server, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) supports this implementation. Other SQL DBMSs include IBM Db2, Azure SQL Database, and Google Cloud SQL.
Any task that involves storing, updating, and investigating data can be programmed in SQL. Whether you need to record and analyze data for yourself, manage data for an employer, or build a data system to support software, SQL can handle these operations. For example, using SQL, you can search and review orders, describe a customer’s purchase history, list all customers who purchased a specific product, or check if those customers share any common traits.
In many cases, you will work with a database management system (DBMS) that provides an interface to SQL, rather than coding in the language directly. However, understanding SQL allows you to modify those programs for unique uses. Knowing SQL also enables you to write custom database programs. For example, a researcher could link their experimental programs to SQL to record variables and measurements, then later generate analyses comparing the effects of each variable on their measurements.
Knowing SQL is also valuable for website and software development. If you are building a website with any kind of stored data—including user logins and accounts, product descriptions and costs, advertising trackers, or downloadable files—you need a DBMS, and the most popular DBMSs are built on SQL. Similarly, programs that store and manipulate data such as statistical or accounting software can be built on SQL.
Classes on SQL begin with a description of the program, an introduction to its underlying concepts, and a summary of its commands. You then learn how each command works through demonstrations on a sample database: filtering and querying data, splitting and combining tables, creating reports and custom views, and granting or blocking access to data for particular users. Many classes on SQL include lessons on data analysis, explaining how different analytic formulae use database organizations and queries. Some classes relate SQL to one or more specific implementations, particularly as used in the database management systems (DBMSs) that form interfaces between databases and user applications. DBMSs support software applications and websites by executing SQL commands based on user interactions. Other courses discuss how to create and maintain SQL-based database servers that provide shared data storage and access for multiple users. The latter lessons particularly address data security, search optimization and efficiency, and functions that back up and restore lost data or damaged databases. Woven through any class on SQL are principles of data science, like the distinction between relational and non-relational databases, how storage space and access speed are affected by data and database formats, and how different industries describe their data. Understanding these concepts helps to build intuitive and efficient databases and accurate queries.
Learning SQL’s structures and commands is relatively intuitive. You can begin using the language to build, edit, and query databases after a single short class. You will also quickly understand many of SQL’s valuable applications. In courses on web development and data analysis, instructors can teach specific uses of SQL in a few hours. However, expanding your study beyond SQL’s basic database functions requires several more classes on its advanced structures, queries, and functions. To use SQL more widely, you must also learn about its interactions with other languages (e.g., Python), programs, and systems (e.g., DBMSs). To become an expert SQL user, capable of employing this language to solve varied problems efficiently and accurately, with large, complex datasets, you will need continued study and practice. Even then, your knowledge may be specific to one industry unless you continue to study SQL’s applications in other fields.
Students without previous database or programming experience may find SQL’s concepts and syntax intimidating. Understanding what a relational database is, how it represents data and relationships, and how to access that data correctly requires thought and practice. Once past this hurdle, most users are challenged by SQL’s powerful but tricky set-building functions such as JOIN, which combines related rows from multiple tables or from one table to itself, or GROUP BY, which creates groups of rows with shared values. Even when they understand these individual commands, students must learn to use them together in complex phrases that accurately answer specific queries. This syntactic challenge grows when databases are more varied, with more interrelated tables. A third common challenge is to manage SQL’s interfaces with other programs, environments, and users so that its inputs and outputs always have the correct formats and each user’s access is limited to their permitted data and operations.
Compared to most other programming languages, SQL has a relatively simple and intuitive syntax. Most students need only a few hours of instruction and two to three weeks of practice to consistently create, modify, and query simple database structures. This degree of knowledge may also be sufficient to use SQL and its related database management systems to build and customize simple websites. Becoming truly proficient with SQL takes considerably longer, requiring time to explore the language’s complexities. Advanced SQL courses discuss datasets and problems more like the ones professionals encounter in their field, along with the solutions that resolve these challenges. Further coursework explains how SQL is implemented in specific fields like data analysis, financial recordkeeping, or software engineering. A more reasonable estimate for students seeking to use SQL professionally is three to four months of study, plus several more months of regular practice with practical applications.
In-person learning allows students to meet with instructors at a shared location, providing the clearest interaction. Students can also access class materials, software, and computers at class sites. Some students may need this option due to their learning style or limited computer or internet access. However, travel to in-person locations incurs financial and time costs and limits the classes students can reach.
Online learning allows students to study from any location, providing more convenience and a wider range of class options. Live online classes are presented through streaming video services like Zoom, and allow for more direct interaction between students and instructors. Self-paced online courses instead use written or pre-recorded video lessons, which lack interaction but allow students to study at any time. Online courses do not usually provide hardware or software, but some offer discounted or free software downloads. SQL, in particular, offers many free packages for download. These classes may also be supplemented by message boards, chat rooms (including live chat with instructors), downloadable texts, and practical exercises. Live online courses are usually the most up-to-date option, as self-paced courses rely on pre-written materials.
Many free online tutorials are available for SQL, including text lessons and explanatory videos. For example, you can find several free lessons on SQL on Noble Desktop’s website and YouTube channel. These free lessons can help you learn more about SQL, its features, and its uses. However, while free lessons can help you understand SQL and decide whether you want to learn more, they rarely cover all the details and specific implementations of SQL that a professional user will need to know. Such lessons are also limited by the time and expertise of their creators and rarely provide the organization or practical examples included in an instructor-led course. They also cannot provide feedback on your questions or your practice, leaving you to learn through trial and error. Learning SQL at a professional level, including its industry applications, generally requires guided instruction and practice.
While classes on SQL address related concepts in data science, data management, and analysis, studying these topics further will improve your understanding of these subjects and SQL’s supporting functions. Data science studies the nature of data, including its collection, forms, representations, and manipulation to accomplish different goals. Data management applies this knowledge to specific systems, usually programming languages and applications, to store and access data for practical purposes. Data analysis describes how to arrange and query data to answer questions, from simple descriptions and correlations to complex statistical investigations that reveal causal relationships.
Similarly, SQL classes discuss specific implementations and applications of the language but cannot cover these systems in depth. Students should explore database management systems like MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server, especially if they intend to use these systems for web development, software development, or data analysis. For comparison, you may also want to learn about non-relational ‘NoSQL’ database languages like MongoDB or Neo4j, which represent data using alternate structures like documents or graphs instead of tables. Finally, studying the uses of SQL in a specific industry will complement your study of the language itself. For example, you might take a class in web development to learn how SQL is used to support a website’s functions or study financial analysis to see how SQL stores and reports banking records.
Many manufacturers, retailers, service organizations, and government agencies have chosen SQL to manage the data storage and reporting that are fundamental to their operations. Marketing departments, agencies, and analysts explore sales and advertising data, opinion surveys, social media, and population trends to better match products to customers. The financial industry similarly requires large-scale, secure data storage, fast access, and skilled analysis to track money and economic measures. Scientific research and product development primarily involve the collection and analysis of data, and SQL is the choice of many researchers. All the above industries may turn to pre-built database software developed by software engineers trained in languages like SQL. Software developers also rely on SQL to manage applications that index and retrieve large amounts of content such as social media sites or music streaming services. Similarly, professional web developers frequently use database management systems built on SQL to implement and streamline the databases used by websites.
Data Scientists study the nature of data and apply this expertise to advise clients and solve problems related to the collection, organization, investigation, and analysis of data. Data Scientists often overlap with the work of Data Analysts and SEO Analysts to address the most efficient methods of structuring and querying information. They may also be called upon to recommend data structures for an application or estimate a business’ data storage and processing needs. Some data-driven industries such as finance or marketing may directly employ Data Scientists. In Boston, Data Scientists earn an average of $129,000 per year.
Data Analysts explore data to find patterns, answer questions, and guide decisions. SQL is the most widespread tool for these professionals, offering reporting and analysis tools limited only by an analyst’s ability. Some industries hire general Data Analysts to address varied inquiries, particularly when conducting scientific or governmental research. Other industries have specialized analysis jobs with corresponding titles such as Financial Analyst, Business Analyst, or Marketing Analyst. These positions require further study into the unique needs, data types, and analysis questions for each industry. A Data Analyst in Boston earns around $142,000 annually.
A Software Engineer creates and codes programs, often for personal computers but possibly for mobile devices or web-based applications. Almost all programs include data structures, and many use SQL to handle their data management tasks. Most Software Engineers study SQL to understand its structures and functions, even if they don’t use it professionally. Across the United States, Software Engineers earn an average of $105,000 per year.
Specializing in SQL can lead to a career using this language to build databases and data applications, employed by any business or organization that adopts SQL and needs an expert user. For example, a hospital or healthcare provider might hire an SQL developer to build a patient database, storing records on their visits, physicians, treatments, hospital stays, and billing. SQL Developers earn an average of $90,000 per year in the United States.
A more recent job type, Machine Learning Engineers apply the principles of data science and analysis to build programs that can complete complex tasks without detailed instructions. These programs learn by collecting and analyzing information, representing the patterns they find as additional data, and then building new analyses and code from their stored experience. In essence, Machine Learning Engineers create programs that can independently use data structures and programming languages like SQL. Many industries, especially software development, finance, communication, and manufacturing, seek these expert systems and the professionals who can build and modify them. A Machine Learning Engineer can earn an average of $165,000 per year in the United States.
A Web Developer builds the code that supports a website’s functions. Most of these functions involve recording, updating, and reporting data, and a majority of websites use SQL-based database management systems. Web Developers must study SQL and its associated DBMSs, especially if they will become a Back-end Developer who would directly implement those data systems. A Full Stack Developer is responsible for all aspects of a website’s construction and maintenance, including the back-end. A Web Developer in Boston earns an average salary of $87,000 annually. A Back-end Developer earns about $157,000 annually across the United States, while a Full Stack Developer in the United States earns an average of $124,000 annually.
Businesses that use or manage large data systems need employees who can build, maintain, monitor, and update these databases. A Database Administrator (or Database Architect) oversees data operations, controlling access to information, monitoring servers, correcting problems, and restoring data access after disasters. They also interact with other specialties like Data Analysts, Web Developers, Software Developers, and IT Support Staff to build the applications that access their databases and implement data servers. Data Administrators earn an average of $76,000 per year in the United States.
General Assembly presents technical courses live online and in-person at its Boston campus. Their bootcamp course, SQL Bootcamp: Learning the Language, requires no prior experience and progresses from a basic explanation of SQL to advanced query writing in a single class. The course relates each SQL function to a practical problem programmers could encounter.
Certstaffix Training hosts multiple live online courses on SQL, taught using Microsoft SQL Server. Enrolled students can also access their computer lab in Burlington, MA. Beginning students should start with SQL Querying—Basic, a short course that explains SQL from the perspective of arranging and searching existing data. This course covers selection, joining, grouping, and a variety of search functions to retrieve data in specified formats. Another short course, SQL Querying—Advanced, follows the Basic course, adding more complexity, including generating and using derived tables.
Students interested in database servers and their administration can also learn these subjects through Certstaffix Training. A long course, Microsoft SQL Server 2012/14/16 Reporting Services (SSRS) teaches the SSRS architecture for data reporting. Students learn how to generate custom reports from stored data, including graphic visualizations, automated reporting, and integration of reports with other programs.
Another long course from Certstaffix Training, Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012/14/16 Databases, explains server administration tasks like the installation and configuration of SQL Server databases, monitoring and maintenance, and user access and security. The course also addresses application development using SQL Server databases. Students for this course should already be familiar with SQL Server and database management tools.
Noble Desktop offers two live online SQL Bootcamp courses, each using a different implementation of SQL: SQL Bootcamp uses PostgreSQL, while SQL Server Bootcamp uses Microsoft SQL Server. Students in these bootcamps first learn the basic concepts and commands of SQL, then progress to more advanced techniques like filtering and grouping data, joining tables, and creating complex queries. Instructors explain how to write these queries directly in SQL and how to use a management application to structure and execute commands more easily. In addition to live online instruction, both courses include supplemental written materials and practical exercises. Students earn a certificate upon completion of either course and can retake that course for free for up to one year.
NYC Career Centers offers more options for SQL students, with three levels of instruction in separate short courses. Their SQL Bootcamp combines all three courses at a discount. SQL Level I teaches the fundamental concepts of relational databases and SQL using Microsoft SQL Server, then teaches students how to explore databases and create custom queries. SQL Level II continues this study at an intermediate level, introducing data analysis and further exploring the filtering and grouping functions that support analyses. SQL Level III progresses to advanced topics such as subqueries (queries embedded within other queries), data Views, and optimizing data structures and queries for more efficient searches.
Noble Desktop can provide live SQL instruction for businesses, whether their employees are learning this language for the first time or improving their skills. You can choose any existing SQL course from Noble Desktop’s catalog or create a custom course to meet your needs, and courses can be presented live online or onsite at your location. Scheduling can also be adjusted as necessary. Alternately, you can purchase vouchers for existing live online courses—at a discount for bulk purchases—and distribute these to employees to book classes that fit their schedules.
Contact corporate@nobledesktop.com for a free consultation to discuss custom course design, ask questions, or purchase course vouchers.