LIST OF SQL TOPICS EVERY ASPIRING DATA ANALYST MUST MASTER
Don’t miss these important SQL topics
1. SQL Basics & Data Types
• What is SQL? Why it’s important for data analysis.
• Common data types: INT, VARCHAR, DATE, BOOLEAN, etc.
• Creating databases & tables using CREATE, ALTER, DROP.
2. SELECT Queries
• SELECT, FROM, WHERE, DISTINCT
• Filtering data using conditions (AND, OR, NOT)
• Using aliases (AS) for better readability
3. Aggregate Functions
• COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MAX(), MIN()
• Grouping data with GROUP BY
• Filtering groups with HAVING
4. JOINS (Super Important!)
• INNER JOIN: Common records between tables
• LEFT JOIN: All from left + matched from right
• RIGHT JOIN: All from right + matched from left
• FULL JOIN: All records from both, matched or not
• SELF JOIN: Joining a table to itself
• CROSS JOIN: Cartesian product
5. Subqueries
• Nested queries inside SELECT, FROM, or WHERE
• Use cases: filtering, creating temporary views
6. Common Table Expressions (CTEs)
• Created using WITH clause
• Makes complex queries more readable
• Used for recursion and modular query building
7. Window Functions
• ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), DENSE_RANK(), NTILE()
• Use OVER(PARTITION BY ... ORDER BY ...)
• Great for running totals, ranks, moving averages, etc.
8. CASE Statements
• SQL version of if-else
• Helps create new columns with conditional logic
9. Data Cleaning in SQL
• Removing duplicates with DISTINCT
• Handling NULLs using IS NULL, COALESCE(), IFNULL()
• String functions: TRIM(), SUBSTRING(), REPLACE()
• Date functions: DATEDIFF(), DATEPART(), FORMAT()
10. Indexes and Query Optimization
• Understand INDEX for speeding up queries
• Use EXPLAIN to analyze query plans
• Writing efficient SQL for large datasets
11. Constraints & Keys
• PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, UNIQUE, CHECK, DEFAULT, NOT NULL
• Enforcing data integrity
12. Views & Stored Procedures
• Virtual tables using CREATE VIEW
• Reusable code blocks using stored procedures
Best Websites to Learn SQL
Learn SQL:
• W3Schools SQL Tutorial
• SQLBolt (Interactive)
• Mode SQL Tutorial
• Kaggle SQL Course
• LeetCode SQL (interview questions)
Practice SQL:
• StrataScratch – Real interview questions
• HackerRank SQL
• DataLemur – SQL + behavioral prep
• SQLZoo
• DB-Fiddle – Online SQL IDE
Thanks
Aasif