SQL Complete Learning Path (Basic → Intermediate → Advanced)
BASIC LEVEL – Foundations
These topics will help you understand SQL’s purpose and structure.
1. Introduction
o What is a database?
o Types of databases (Relational vs Non-relational)
o What is SQL? How it interacts with databases
o Installing and setting up SQL environments (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc.)
Introduction to Databases & SQL
What is a Database?
A database is an organized collection of data stored electronically so it can be easily accessed,
managed, and updated.
Example:
In a Banking System → Database stores customer info, transac ons, account balances.
In an E-commerce site (Amazon, Flipkart) → Database stores products, customers, orders,
payments.
Types of Databases
1. Relational Databases (RDBMS)
Data is stored in tables (rows & columns).
Uses SQL (Structured Query Language).
Tables are connected by keys.
Examples: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server.
Real-world use:
Banking system (Customers ↔ Accounts ↔ Transactions).
E-commerce (Users ↔ Orders ↔ Products).
2. Non-Relational Databases (NoSQL)
Data is stored in flexible formats like JSON, documents, key-value pairs, or graphs.
Great for big data, real-time analytics, unstructured data.
Examples: MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis, Neo4j.
Real-world use:
Social media apps (storing posts, likes, comments in JSON format).
Recommendation engines (Netflix, YouTube).
What is SQL?
SQL (Structured Query Language) is the language used to communicate with relational
databases.
With SQL you can:
o Create tables
o Insert data
o Query data
o Update or delete records
o Manage users and security
Think of SQL as a “remote control” to interact with your database.
How SQL interacts with Databases
Flow:
1. User/Developer writes a SQL command (example: SELECT * FROM students;).
2. SQL Engine inside the database reads the command.
3. Database retrieves data from tables.
4. Results are sent back to the user.
Installing SQL Environments
You can choose any one to practice:
1. MySQL – Most popular, easy to install.
o Free, open-source, widely used.
2. PostgreSQL – Advanced features, widely used in data engineering.
o Great for analytics and big queries.
3. SQLite – Lightweight, no setup, runs on your computer as a file.
o Best for beginners & small projects.
Recommendation for you (beginner → data engineer path):
Start with MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Exercise for You
1. Install MySQL or PostgreSQL (if not already).
2. Create your first database:
3. CREATE DATABASE school;
4. Enter the database:
5. USE school; -- (MySQL)
or
\c school -- (Postgres)
Diagram: (simple view)
User → writes SQL → SQL Engine → queries tables → Database → returns result
2. SQL Syntax Basics
o SELECT – retrieve data
o FROM – choosing tables
o WHERE – filtering records
o ORDER BY – sorting results
o LIMIT / OFFSET – restricting results
3. Data Types
o Integer, Float, Decimal
o String types (CHAR, VARCHAR, TEXT)
o Date and Time types
o Boolean
4. Filtering Data
o Comparison operators (=, !=, <, >, <=, >=)
o LIKE, NOT LIKE (pattern matching)
o IN, NOT IN (set membership)
o BETWEEN, NOT BETWEEN (range filtering)
o IS NULL, IS NOT NULL
5. Functions – Aggregate & Scalar
o COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), MAX()
o UPPER(), LOWER(), LENGTH(), ROUND()
o Date functions: NOW(), CURDATE(), DATEDIFF()
6. GROUP BY & HAVING
o Grouping data
o Filtering aggregated data
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL – Working with Relationships and Data Manipulation
7. Joins
o INNER JOIN – common data in both tables
o LEFT JOIN / RIGHT JOIN – including unmatched data
o FULL OUTER JOIN
o CROSS JOIN
o Self joins
8. Subqueries
o Using subqueries in SELECT, WHERE, FROM
o Correlated vs Non-correlated subqueries
9. Data Modification
o INSERT INTO – adding records
o UPDATE – changing records
o DELETE – removing records
10. Creating and Modifying Tables
CREATE TABLE – defining structure
ALTER TABLE – adding/removing columns
DROP TABLE – deleting tables
11. Constraints
PRIMARY KEY
FOREIGN KEY
UNIQUE
CHECK
NOT NULL
DEFAULT values
12. Indexes
What are indexes and why are they used?
Creating and dropping indexes
Performance benefits and downsides
13. Views
What is a view?
Creating views
Updating and managing views
ADVANCED LEVEL – Optimization, Security, and Automation
14. Transactions
BEGIN, COMMIT, ROLLBACK
ACID properties explained
Handling errors during transactions
15. Stored Procedures & Functions
Writing procedures and functions
Parameters and return values
Business logic encapsulation
16. Triggers
Automating tasks with triggers
BEFORE and AFTER triggers
Examples: audit trails, cascading updates
17. User Permissions and Security
Granting and revoking access
Roles and permissions management
Secure coding practices
18. Window Functions
ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), DENSE_RANK()
PARTITION BY and ORDER BY within functions
Moving averages and running totals
19. Common Table Expressions (CTE)
WITH clause
Recursive queries
20. Optimization Techniques
Query plan analysis
Index optimization
Avoiding unnecessary joins or subqueries
Best practices for faster queries
21. Backup and Restore
Exporting and importing data
Maintaining backups for disaster recovery
22. Handling Large Datasets
Partitioning tables
Archiving data
Managing concurrency
23. Working with JSON and XML
Storing structured data within SQL
Parsing and querying JSON fields
24. Integrating SQL with Applications
Connecting databases with Python, PHP, Java, etc.
Using APIs to fetch or update data
ORM tools overview (like SQLAlchemy, Hibernate)
Learning Order
Start from the basic topics → prac ce queries → move to joins and constraints → learn
transactions → then advanced topics like triggers and op miza on. Each topic should be backed
with exercises and real datasets.
Extra Practice Suggestions
Build a sample Employee Management System
Create an E-commerce database with products, orders, customers
Practice with open datasets like COVID data, financial data, or sports stats
Participate in online platforms like:
o LeetCode SQL Problems
o HackerRank SQL Practice
o Mode SQL Tutorial
If you want, I can:
1. Create a week-by-week study plan.
2. Provide exercises after each topic.
3. Share example datasets and solutions.
Shall I start with the first topic and exercises now?
You said:
yes i want Create a week-by-week study plan. Provide exercises after each topic. Share example
datasets and solutions
ChatGPT said:
Updated saved memory
Here’s a structured 8-week study plan covering SQL from basics to advanced topics, complete with
exercises and example datasets.
SQL Week-by-Week Study Plan
Duration: 8 Weeks
✔ 2–3 hours/day
✔ Practice-focused learning
Week 1 – Introduction, SELECT & WHERE Clause
Topics:
What is a database?
Types of databases
Installing MySQL / PostgreSQL / SQLite
SELECT statement
FROM clause
WHERE clause
Filtering with comparison operators (=, <>, <, >, <=, >=)
Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT)
Exercises:
1. Create a table students with columns id, name, age, grade.
2. Insert sample data into students.
3. Write a query to fetch all students.
4. Write a query to fetch students older than 18.
5. Write a query to fetch students with grade 'A'.
Example Dataset: students
id name age grade
1 Alice 20 A
2 Bob 17 B
3 Charlie 19 A
4 David 21 C
Solutions:
-- 1. Create table
CREATE TABLE students (
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(50),
age INT,
grade CHAR(1)
);
-- 2. Insert data
INSERT INTO students VALUES (1, 'Alice', 20, 'A');
INSERT INTO students VALUES (2, 'Bob', 17, 'B');
INSERT INTO students VALUES (3, 'Charlie', 19, 'A');
INSERT INTO students VALUES (4, 'David', 21, 'C');
-- 3. Fetch all students
SELECT * FROM students;
-- 4. Students older than 18
SELECT * FROM students WHERE age > 18;
-- 5. Students with grade 'A'
SELECT * FROM students WHERE grade = 'A';
Week 2 – ORDER BY, LIMIT, Data Types & Functions
Topics:
ORDER BY – ascending/descending
LIMIT and OFFSET
Data types (INT, FLOAT, CHAR, VARCHAR, DATE)
Using functions like COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), MAX()
Exercises:
1. Fetch students ordered by age descending.
2. Limit the result to top 2 students.
3. Find the total number of students.
4. Find the average age of students.
5. Find the oldest and youngest student.
Solutions:
-- 1. Order by age descending
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age DESC;
-- 2. Top 2 students by age
SELECT * FROM students ORDER BY age DESC LIMIT 2;
-- 3. Total number of students
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM students;
-- 4. Average age
SELECT AVG(age) FROM students;
-- 5. Oldest and youngest student
SELECT MAX(age) AS oldest, MIN(age) AS youngest FROM students;
Week 3 – Pattern Matching, IN, BETWEEN, IS NULL
Topics:
LIKE, NOT LIKE
IN, NOT IN
BETWEEN, NOT BETWEEN
IS NULL, IS NOT NULL
Exercises:
1. Find students whose name starts with 'A'.
2. Find students with grade 'A' or 'B'.
3. Find students aged between 18 and 21.
4. Add a column email and insert NULL for some students.
5. Find students with NULL emails.
Solutions:
-- 1. Names starting with A
SELECT * FROM students WHERE name LIKE 'A%';
-- 2. Grade A or B
SELECT * FROM students WHERE grade IN ('A', 'B');
-- 3. Age between 18 and 21
SELECT * FROM students WHERE age BETWEEN 18 AND 21;
-- 4. Add email column and update
ALTER TABLE students ADD COLUMN email VARCHAR(100);
UPDATE students SET email = 'alice@example.com' WHERE id = 1;
UPDATE students SET email = NULL WHERE id = 2;
-- 5. Find students with NULL email
SELECT * FROM students WHERE email IS NULL;
Week 4 – GROUP BY, HAVING, Advanced Aggregations
Topics:
GROUP BY clause
HAVING clause
Using COUNT, AVG with grouping
Exercises:
1. Group students by grade and count them.
2. Find grades with more than 1 student.
3. Find average age per grade.
Solutions:
-- 1. Group by grade and count
SELECT grade, COUNT(*) FROM students GROUP BY grade;
-- 2. Grades with more than 1 student
SELECT grade, COUNT(*) FROM students GROUP BY grade HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;
-- 3. Average age per grade
SELECT grade, AVG(age) FROM students GROUP BY grade;
Week 5 – Joins
Topics:
INNER JOIN
LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN
CROSS JOIN
Self-joins
Example Dataset:
courses
id name
1 Math
2 Science
3 History
student_courses
student_id course_id
1 1
1 2
2 2
3 3
Exercises:
1. List all students and the courses they are enrolled in.
2. List all students, even those not enrolled in any course.
3. Find students enrolled in 'Science'.
Solutions:
-- 1. INNER JOIN to find students with courses
SELECT s.name AS student_name, c.name AS course_name
FROM students s
INNER JOIN student_courses sc ON s.id = sc.student_id
INNER JOIN courses c ON sc.course_id = c.id;
-- 2. LEFT JOIN to include students without courses
SELECT s.name AS student_name, c.name AS course_name
FROM students s
LEFT JOIN student_courses sc ON s.id = sc.student_id
LEFT JOIN courses c ON sc.course_id = c.id;
-- 3. Students enrolled in Science
SELECT s.name
FROM students s
JOIN student_courses sc ON s.id = sc.student_id
JOIN courses c ON sc.course_id = c.id
WHERE c.name = 'Science';
Week 6 – Data Modification, Constraints, Indexes
Topics:
INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE
PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, UNIQUE, NOT NULL
Indexes and performance basics
Exercises:
1. Insert a new student.
2. Update a student’s grade.
3. Delete a student by ID.
4. Add a UNIQUE constraint on email.
5. Create an index on age.
Solutions:
-- 1. Insert new student
INSERT INTO students (id, name, age, grade, email) VALUES (5, 'Eve', 22, 'B', 'eve@example.com');
-- 2. Update student's grade
UPDATE students SET grade = 'A' WHERE id = 2;
-- 3. Delete a student
DELETE FROM students WHERE id = 4;
-- 4. Add UNIQUE constraint
ALTER TABLE students ADD CONSTRAINT unique_email UNIQUE (email);
-- 5. Create index on age
CREATE INDEX idx_age ON students(age);
Week 7 – Transactions, Stored Procedures, Functions, Triggers
Topics:
BEGIN, COMMIT, ROLLBACK
Creating stored procedures and functions
Using triggers for automation
Exercises:
1. Write a transaction to insert a student and enroll them in a course.
2. Create a stored procedure to get student count.
3. Create a trigger to update another table when a student is inserted.
Week 8 – Advanced SQL: Window Functions, CTE, Recursive Queries
Topics:
ROW_NUMBER(), RANK()
PARTITION BY and ORDER BY
WITH clause (CTE)
Recursive queries
Exercises:
1. Assign row numbers to students ordered by age.
2. Use CTE to get students above average age.
3. Write a recursive query (example: hierarchy, factorial).
Next Steps
1. I can now prepare datasets (students, courses, etc.) and share SQL files you can download.
2. After each week's lessons, I’ll send exercises and their solutions.
3. At the end of each week, you can test yourself with mock scenarios.
Shall I start by sharing:
1. SQL scripts for Week 1 setup?
2. A sample PDF summary for Week 1 lessons and exercises?
