At the end of the course students will be able to:

• Understand the basics of what a database is
• Formulate simple SELECT statements
• Qualify queries using the WHERE clause
• Summarise data using the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses
• Formulate complex queries which span multiple tables
• Gain an appreciation for performance when developing queries
• Gain confidence in developing accurate and efficient SQL queries

Introduction to Databases

• Defining a Databases Management System
• Defining a Relational Database Management System
• Defining Normalisation
• What Does SQL Do?

Basic SELECT Statement

• The SELECT Statement
• Restricting Columns
• Performing Arithmetic Computing
• SQL Functions
• Eliminating Duplicate Rows
• Sorting Data

Qualifying Data

• The WHERE Clause
• Comparison Operators
• Logical Operators
• Selecting NULL Values
• Subqueries
• ANY and ALL Predicates
• String Components

Combining Tables

• What is a Join?
• Why We Join Tables?
• How to Get a Good Join
• Formulation of a Join

Summarising Information

• Aggregate Functions
• Grouping Data
• Qualifying Groups of Data
• The Having Clause

More Complex SQL

• Exists Predicate
• Outer Joins
• Pattern Matching and String Manipulations
• Handling Date Comparisons and Manipulation