Learning SQL? Here's a grab bag of links.
Tags: sql, postgres, mysql, postgressql
Published: 2023-05-05 19:44:13


_Cover Photo: Windows on the side of a building that emulate columns and rows of a database via  https://unsplash.com/@kenrick_

I've collected a number of links and resources for learning SQL. Sharing here so that I can link to this in the future.

Hopefully one of these courses, books, or links helps you out in your journey of learning and building SQL skills!

I've broken them out at **Online Courses and Tutorials** and **Other**.

## Online Courses and Tutorials

* https://learnsql.com/track/sql-practice - paid course, but they do offer 70 free interactive coding challenges

* https://app.bigmachine.io/courses/sql-orbit - a course that includes an ebook (see below). "You'll learn the basics of SQL and databases using PostgreSQL and you'll have the time of your life doing it. We use a real set of data: the analysis data from Cassini's flybys of Enceladus. There might actually be life up there and you're going to query the data to find out!"

* https://wizardzines.com/zines/sql/ - [Julia Evans](https://twitter.com/b0rk) has some great zines and this one is all about SQL. Includes an [interactive SQL playground too](https://sql-playground.wizardzines.com/).

![SQL Zine](https://wizardzines.com/zines/sql/samples/from_hubaaee4376fc25a30df939bb116bd608b_463708_800x0_resize_box_2.png)

* https://sqlbolt.com/ - Welcome to SQLBolt, a series of interactive lessons and exercises designed to help you quickly learn SQL right in your browser.

* https://www.ga4bigquery.com/course-query-ga4-data-in-google-bigquery/ - Broader than only SQL, this course will expose you to BigQuery, which you might run into as your SQL journey continues. 
> Query GA4 Data In Google BigQuery is a comprehensive zero-to-hero course designed to teach you everything you need to know about raw data access, query, and analysis.

* https://planetscale.com/courses/mysql-for-developers/introduction/course-introduction - a online course on MySQL from @planetscaledata

* https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/sql-and-databases-full-course/  - “In this course, Mike Dane will teach you database management basics and SQL…If you've never studied databases or SQL before, this is a great starting point.” H/T to an [old friend](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7061349171064180737?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7061349171064180737%2C7061459624704573440%29) for sharing this one!

## Other

* https://dataschool.com/learn-sql/ - a PostgreSQL interactive SQL Tutorial! (Older and may not work since Atlassian bought Chartio, the org behind this book and site. Still useful information in the free ebook.)

* https://bigmachine.io/products/a-curious-moon/ - a book about databases and all things data. From the SQL in Orbit course linked above.

* https://dev.to/x-team/a-roadmap-for-learning-sql-4l99 - a nice post from @tdmoor that collects a set of learning SQL related resources.
* https://sqlpd.com/ - Solve (pretend) crimes with SQL.

![An image of the interface for SQL Police Department - solve pretent crimes with SQL](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wu7x2c5jf6ekcxe1xp04.png)

* https://towardsdatascience.com/you-should-use-this-to-visualize-sql-joins-instead-of-venn-diagrams-ede15f9583fc?gi=94315293fa3f - SQL JOINs are confusing, here's another way to visualize them.
![SQL JOIN visualization](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*LBTF0fLczIBiXCD0_KWb1Q.png)

* https://www.sql-practice.com/ - A series of SQL questions with an interactive SQL prompt to try and solve them.

* https://nostarch.com/practical-sql-2nd-edition - "You’ll first cover the fundamentals of databases and the SQL language, then build skills by analyzing data from real-world datasets such as US Census demographics, New York City taxi rides, and earthquakes from US Geological Survey. Each chapter includes exercises and examples that teach even those who have never programmed before all the tools necessary to build powerful databases and access information quickly and efficiently."

* https://twitter.com/pvergadia/status/1545085231840915459 - a SQL Cheatsheet from [Priyanka Vergadia](https://twitter.com/pvergadia), who has other awesome cheat sheets, blog posts, and more.

* https://use-the-index-luke.com/ - "A site explaining SQL indexing to developers —no crap about administration." Has an ebook component too.

* https://sqlzoo.net/wiki/SQL_Tutorial - A series of SQL tutorials hosted in a wiki.

* https://www.brittanybennett.com/post/how-to-land-a-job-in-progressive-data - A post about data and politics and how data is used in politics. Covers "getting a job in data" too. Has a ton of great data and SQL related resources at the end.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFiZx5NlzL4 - A more intermediate to advanced dive into SQL. "In this SQL workshop, hosted by The Operational Analytics Club & Census, Ergest teaches various SQL principles (patters) to help you take your SQL skills from intermediate to expert." Check out Ergest's site at https://bio.link/ergestx as it has lots of good blogs on data and SQL. He wrote a book on SQL patterns, too: https://ergestx.gumroad.com/l/sqlpatterns