1.
Basics (Beginner Level)
■ What is SQL & Why is it used?
SQL (Structured Query Language) is used to interact with relational databases (RDBMS like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQ
It helps store, retrieve, update, and delete data efficiently.
■ Example:
SELECT * FROM employees;
■ DBMS vs RDBMS
DBMS: General database system (no relations, e.g., file-based, MongoDB).
RDBMS: Stores data in tables with relationships. Example: MySQL, PostgreSQL.
■ SQL Data Types
INT → numbers
VARCHAR(n) → strings
DATE/TIME → dates & timestamps
BOOLEAN → true/false
■ Example:
CREATE TABLE students (
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(50),
dob DATE,
is_active BOOLEAN
);
■ Basic Commands
CREATE DATABASE school;
CREATE TABLE employees (id INT, name VARCHAR(50));
INSERT INTO employees VALUES (1, 'John');
SELECT * FROM employees;
UPDATE employees SET name = 'Mike' WHERE id = 1;
DELETE FROM employees WHERE id = 1;
■ Filtering & Sorting
SELECT name FROM employees WHERE id > 5;
SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY name DESC;
SELECT DISTINCT department FROM employees;
SELECT * FROM employees LIMIT 5;
■ Operators
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE salary BETWEEN 3000 AND 6000;
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE name LIKE 'A%';
SELECT * FROM employees WHERE department IN ('HR', 'IT');
2. Intermediate (Querying & Joins)
■ Joins
-- INNER JOIN (common records)
SELECT e.name, d.dept_name
FROM employees e
INNER JOIN department d ON e.dept_id = d.id;
-- LEFT JOIN (all from left table)
SELECT e.name, d.dept_name
FROM employees e
LEFT JOIN department d ON e.dept_id = d.id;
■ Aggregate Functions
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employees;
SELECT AVG(salary) FROM employees;
SELECT MAX(salary), MIN(salary) FROM employees;
■ Grouping
SELECT department, COUNT(*)
FROM employees
GROUP BY department
HAVING COUNT(*) > 5;
■ Subqueries
-- IN
SELECT name FROM employees
WHERE dept_id IN (SELECT id FROM department WHERE location = 'NY');
-- EXISTS
SELECT name FROM employees e
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM department d WHERE d.id = e.dept_id);
■ Constraints
CREATE TABLE student (
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
email VARCHAR(100) UNIQUE,
age INT CHECK (age > 18),
dept_id INT NOT NULL
);
3. Advanced SQL
■ Set Operations
SELECT name FROM employees
UNION
SELECT name FROM managers;
■ Views
CREATE VIEW active_employees AS
SELECT name, salary FROM employees WHERE is_active = TRUE;
SELECT * FROM active_employees;
■ Indexes
CREATE INDEX idx_name ON employees(name);
■ Speeds up search queries.
■ Transactions
BEGIN;
UPDATE employees SET salary = salary + 500 WHERE dept_id = 2;
COMMIT;
-- or ROLLBACK if error
■ Stored Procedures & Functions
CREATE PROCEDURE getEmployee()
BEGIN
SELECT * FROM employees;
END;
CALL getEmployee();
■ Triggers
CREATE TRIGGER before_insert_employee
BEFORE INSERT ON employees
FOR EACH ROW
SET NEW.created_at = NOW();
4. Expert SQL (Job-Level)
■ Window Functions
SELECT name, salary,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY salary DESC) AS rank
FROM employees;
■ CTE
WITH dept_count AS (
SELECT dept_id, COUNT(*) AS total
FROM employees
GROUP BY dept_id
)
SELECT * FROM dept_count WHERE total > 5;
■ Recursive Queries
WITH RECURSIVE nums AS (
SELECT 1 AS n
UNION ALL
SELECT n+1 FROM nums WHERE n < 5
)
SELECT * FROM nums;
■ Pivot & Unpivot
(Mostly in SQL Server / Oracle)
■ Performance Optimization
Use indexes wisely
Avoid SELECT *
Normalize DB (remove redundancy)
Check execution plan
■ Security & Access Control
CREATE USER 'john'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'pass123';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON school.* TO 'john'@'localhost';
