Free Courses That Are Actually Free: SQL Edition

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You’ve learned the fundamentals of computer science. You have learnt a new programming language and understand the elements of machine learning and artificial intelligence. You’re starting to see all the pieces of the puzzle coming together.

Now you’re thinking about learning SQL. For those of you who do not know what SQL is. SQL is a programming language for storing and processing information in a relational database, and a standard language for database creation and manipulation. Naturally, a lot of tech professionals learn SQL to make their lives 10x easier.

Depending on the job you are looking into, SQL may or may not be required.

IBM: Introduction to SQL

 
Link: IBM: Introduction to SQL
Duration: 5 weeks, 2–4 hours per week

Much of the world’s data lives in databases. SQL is the language used for communicating with and manipulating data in databases. The purpose of this course is to introduce relational database (RDBMS) concepts and help you learn and apply foundation and intermediate knowledge of the SQL language.

You will start with performing basic Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) operations using CREATE, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements. You will then learn to filter, order, sort, and aggregate data. You will also work with functions, perform sub-selects and nested queries, as well as access multiple tables in the database. Through a series of hands-on labs, you will practice building and running SQL queries. At the end of the course, you will apply and demonstrate your skills with a final project.

CS50’s Introduction to Databases with SQL

 
Link: CS50’s Introduction to Databases with SQL
Duration: 7 weeks, 6–12 hours per week

With a primary focus on SQL which is a popular standardized programming language used to manage relational databases and perform operations on the data within the database. Topics you will cover include different file types, data cleaning, relational databases, SQL and its functionalities, SQLite, primary/foreign key, and more.

Learn how to connect SQL with other languages like Python and Java.

IBM: SQL for Data Science

 
Link: IBM: SQL for Data Science
Duration: 4 weeks, 2–4 hours per week

When you think about SQL and databases, you might wonder about their importance in data science. The science of data must use SQL and databases a lot right?

In this course, you will get a working knowledge of databases and SQL and why it is necessary to advance as a data scientist or a machine learning specialist. The purpose of this course is to introduce relational database concepts and help you learn and apply foundational knowledge of the SQL language. It is also intended to get you started with performing SQL access in a data science environment.

Databases: Relational Databases and SQL

 
Link: Databases: Relational Databases and SQL
Duration: 2 weeks, 8–10 hours per week

This course provides an introduction to relational databases and comprehensive coverage of SQL. This course is aimed at learners who are seeking to gain a strong understanding of relational databases and to master SQL.

You will learn about relational databases and SQL, database constraints and triggers, OLAP and recursion, as well as modeling, theory, and semistructured data. All of the courses are based on video lectures and demos, where they include quizzes between video segments to check understanding, in-depth standalone quizzes, and/or a variety of automatically checked interactive exercises.

edX: Learn SQL

 
Link: edX: Learn SQL
Duration: 1 week, 1–2 hours per week

This course in SQL aims to equip you with the basics of database design and help you reach your goals. In this course, you will learn how to define and explain the benefits of SQL, what a database is, and identify SQL data types, as well as be able to create basic SQL statements. By the end of the course, you will be able to explain the value SQL skills bring to non-data scientists, describe the benefits and uses of SQL and execute basic SQL commands.

SQL Concepts for Data Engineers

 
Link: SQL Concepts for Data Engineers
Duration: 1 week, 4–5 hours per week

Maybe you’re a data engineer and you are interested in up-skilling or learning how you can integrate SQL into your day-to-day workflow. This course builds on your existing SQL knowledge to learn about additional techniques that are key to Data Engineers.

You will learn how to create and use views to simplify and control access to underlying tables. You will learn about the advantages provided by stored procedures and how to write and run them. You will discover the importance of ACID transactions to maintain the integrity of your data and how to use them in your code. Finally, you will learn how to use different types of joins to accurately retrieve related data from multiple tables.

SQL for Data Science with R

 
Link: SQL for Data Science with R
Duration: 6 weeks, 2–3 hours per week

The purpose of this course is to introduce relational database concepts and to help you learn and apply foundational knowledge of the SQL and R languages. It is also intended to get you started with performing SQL access in a data science environment.

The emphasis in this course is on hands-on and practical learning, which means you will work with real databases, real data science tools, and real-world datasets. You will also create a database instance in the cloud. Through a series of hands-on labs, you will practice building and running SQL queries. You will learn how to access databases from Jupyter notebooks using SQL and R.

Django Application Development with SQL and Databases

 
Link: Django Application Development with SQL and Databases
Duration: 2 weeks, 6–8 hours per week

This course introduces you to the basics of SQL, a simple and powerful programming language for querying and managing data, and the fundamentals of cloud databases. You will discover Object-Relational Mapping (ORM), and how to use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) languages to work with databases.

You will be introduced to Django, a fast and simple open-source web framework used by developers to simplify their work. You will learn how Django models, views and templates work together to present data on a website and will use Django’s powerful admin site functionality to manage site content. And you will discover Bootstrap, a free and open-source web front-end framework.

As a final project, you will gain hands-on practical experience developing and deploying a full-stack Django web application on the cloud.

Wrapping Up

There we have it. 8 different free SQL courses that can take you from a complete beginner to being able to deploy your own application on the cloud. SQL is a very popular language and with the value of data continuously going up; the need for professionals who can handle data and databases is in high demand.

Nisha Arya is a data scientist, freelance technical writer, and an editor and community manager for KDnuggets. She is particularly interested in providing data science career advice or tutorials and theory-based knowledge around data science. Nisha covers a wide range of topics and wishes to explore the different ways artificial intelligence can benefit the longevity of human life. A keen learner, Nisha seeks to broaden her tech knowledge and writing skills, while helping guide others.

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