Section 1: SQL Introduction

Structured Query Language (SQL) is the standard language used to manage and analyze data stored in relational databases. It lets you do things like:

• Retrieve data

• Manipulate data

• Analyze data

• Prepare data for dashboards, reports or further analysis

A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is software that stores, organizes and retrieves data in a relational form. SQL is the language you use to communicate with and manage RDBMS’s. The five most common are MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database and SQLite. The main differences between these come down to features, syntax/functions and cost.

For this handbook, we’ll look at MySQL because:

• It’s beginner friendly but still powerful

• It’s free and easy to install

• Most concepts learned in MySQL can be applied to others with minor syntax changes