SQL for Beginners: 3 Sites You Should Know About

The best ways for a beginner to learn SQL online.

You can read tutorials on SQL online and you can have a complete idea about it. But the most important thing that you should do is use it in real-life applications. It is very different to know a concept and to apply it in real projects. This is where you will face challenges, but at this point, you will also enjoy learning new things. Balancing theory with practice is key to getting up and running at a decent pace, and luckily there are some great sites that can help you with this.

Why should I learn SQL?

SQL's not just for the technical crowd. It's a great language for managing and working with data, especially if you want to create sites or apps that use a database backend. With that in mind, it's worth putting in the time to learn it well. Learning how to write complex SQL queries can take some time, but the reward is well worth it.

The three best sites that help you learn and practice SQL.

When starting out with SQL there is a ton of information that can be found to cover a variety of topics. There are literally thousands of tutorials and references, but it can be tough to find which ones will help you get started or answer the questions you have. I've put together a list of my three favorite SQL sites to help anyone who is new to SQL and looking to learn more.

1. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a non-profit educational website with the mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. It's a great place to learn about SQL. You’ll find videos and interactive tutorials for both basic and advanced SQL. And the fact that it is free just makes it a no-brainer for anyone looking to get started with SQL.

2. LearnSQL.com

LearnSQL is one of the best online course providers for learning SQL. They have a set of over 65 hands-on SQL courses for beginners and advanced users. There's no need to install anything on your device, everything happens through your web browser. All courses are interactive and based on real-life scenarios. You’ll find courses on specific databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and much more. Their most popular SQL course has over forty thousand 5-star reviews from their users. It's worth checking it out.

3. w3schools.com/sql

A lot of websites can teach you about SQL once you've understood the basics. W3schools.com is one of these websites. W3schools is free to use and was first launched in 1998 and has grown to become the de facto website for learning front-end web development languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It makes sense that it would be a place where you can learn SQL too, as it is a must in any web stack. But I’d recommend it for people that already have a basic understanding of SQL, to be able to navigate the site efficiently.

How long does it take to learn SQL?

The good news is that learning SQL is relatively easy. It's a lot simpler than programming languages like C++ or JavaScript, and it's not an overly long process. The majority of the statements are actually regular English words that help the user roughly understand what a query does, without much previous experience. You'll need to put in at least twenty hours of work, although the time commitment will vary depending on your skill level. However, be prepared for some frustration along the way, as you discover that there isn't one right answer to every question and that different answers may be more efficient than others. Overall, however, if you're ready to put in some hard work, you'll find that SQL is something that's well worth learning.

Conclusion

It is relatively easy to grasp the basics of SQL no matter your skill level. There are plenty of sites available to help you get started or take your SQL skills to the next level. The above mentioned three sites are great examples of this. When you get into particle problem-solving in SQL however, nothing beats Google, Stack Overflow, or even YouTube. But those sites don’t help you build a deep understanding of the “why” behind the solution, which is what you need to understand as you are getting started.

At the heart of it, I think all of the above-mentioned sites help users because they have the two main fundamentals in place. 1. You can access the learning material on demand so that you can make it fit your schedule. 2. It is curated, quality-assured, and has a clear thought and story behind what you learn and when.

Happy SQLin’