SQL Part 1: Learning the Basics of SQL

In this article, I will provide you with the breadcrumbs needed to understand what is SQL and what are syntaxes. In the previous article located here https://baknowledgeshare.com/3-reasons-why-a-business-analyst-should-know-sql/ https://baknowledgeshare.com/3-reasons-why-a-business-analyst-should-know-sql/, I provided 3 reasons as to why Business Analysts should know SQL.

This article leans you into the wonderful world of SQL and the following articles will provide you with a deeper dive into using SQL.

The scope of this series of articles is not to get you to an expert level but to give you enough of an understanding to venture out on your own.

That being said, it is important to understand the data that you are going to work with to use SQL. If you are interested in learning more about how to go about understanding your data, comment below.

What is SQL?

• SQL stands for Structured Query Language
• SQL lets you access and manipulate databases

What Can SQL do?

• SQL can execute queries against a database
• SQL can retrieve data from a database
• SQL can insert records in a database
• SQL can update records in a database
• SQL can delete records from a database
• SQL can create new databases
• SQL can create new tables in a database
• SQL can create stored procedures in a database
• SQL can create views in a database
• SQL can set permissions on tables, procedures, and views

What is a Database?

According to Wikipedia, in computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically from a computer system. Where databases are more complex they are often developed using formal design and modeling techniques.

In layman’s terms if you have used excel before it is similar to an excel workbook that holds a series of tabs.

The database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. The DBMS software additionally encompasses the core facilities provided to administer the database. The sum total of the database, the DBMS and the associated applications can be referred to as a “database system”. Often the term “database” is also used loosely to refer to any of the DBMS, the database system or an application associated with the database.

Computer scientists may classify database-management systems according to the database models that they support. 

Relational databases became dominant in the 1980s. These model data as rows and columns in a series of tables, and the vast majority use SQL for writing and querying data. In the 2000s, non-relational databases became popular, referred to as NoSQL because they use different query languages. For our purposes we will be using relational databases to learn SQL. Ignore and block out the NoSQL reference for now.

SQL Commands

What is a SQL command? Think of a SQL command as instructions that you as a BA will provide to a computer to access the data.

Some of the most commonly used commands are as follows:

• SELECT – extracts data from a database
• UPDATE – updates data in a database
• DELETE – deletes data from a database
• INSERT INTO – inserts new data into a database
• CREATE DATABASE – creates a new database
• ALTER DATABASE – modifies a database
• CREATE TABLE – creates a new table
• ALTER TABLE – modifies a table
• DROP TABLE – deletes a table
• CREATE INDEX – creates an index (search key)
• DROP INDEX – deletes an index

In the next article, I will show you how to use the syntaxes mentioned above in addition to downloading some useful tools for you to practice SQL. Until next time.

To learn more about SQL outside of this post, click on the links below on recommended books on Amazon:

SQL Quickstart Guide

Practical SQL