SQL Fundamentals

M1W4D2
Relational Databases

A relational database is one that stores data in tables.

The relationship between each data point is clear and
searching through those relationships is relatively
easy. The relationship between tables and field types
is called a schema. For relational databases, the
schema must be clearly defined.
Relational Databases
Non-Relational Databases

A non-relational database is any database that does

not use the tabular schema of rows and columns like
in relational databases. Rather, its storage model is
optimized for the type of data it’s storing.
Non-Relational Databases
There are four different types of NoSQL databases.

Document-oriented databases – Also known as a document store, this

database is designed for storing, retrieving and managing
document-oriented information. Document databases usually pair each
key with a complex data structure (called a document).
Key-Value Stores – This is a database that uses different keys where
each key is associated with only one value in a collection. Think of it as a
dictionary. This is one of the simplest database types among NoSQL
databases.
Wide-Column Stores – This database uses tables, rows, and columns,
but unlike a relational database, the names and format of the columns
can vary from row to row in the same table.
Graph Stores – A graph database uses graph structures for semantic
queries with nodes, edges, and properties to represent and store data.
How to choose a

1) What type of data will you be analyzing?

1) How much data are you dealing with?

1) What kind of resources can you devote to the

setup and maintenance of your database?

1) Do you need real-time data?

Introduction to SQL
SQL (Structured Query Language) is a computer
language aimed to store, manipulate and retrieve
data stored in relational databases.

SQL language has several parts:

1) DDL - Data Definition Language
2) DML - Data Manipulation Language
3) View Definition
4) Transaction Control
Data Definition Language

DDL statements are used to define the database

structure or schema. Examples :

1) CREATE
2) ALTER
3) DROP
4) RENAME
Data Manipulation Language

DML statements are used for managing data within

schema objects. Examples :

1) SELECT
2) INSERT
3) UPDATE
4) DELETE
Basic Structure of SQL Query
General Structure SELECT, ALL/ DISTINCT, *, AS, FROM,
WHERE

Comparison IN, BETWEEN, LIKE, ILIKE

Grouping GROUP BY, HAVING, COUNT(),

SUM(), AVG(), MAX(), MIN()

Display Order ORDER BY, ASC/ DESC

Logical Operators AND, OR, NOT

Output INTO TABLE/ CURSOR, TO SCREEN

Union UNION
SELECT & DISTINCT Statement
SELECT is the most common statement used, and it allows us to
retrieve information from a table.

In order to select the entire table SELECT * is used

Sometimes a table contains a column that has duplicate values

and in order to return only the unique values, DISTINCT statement
is used in combination with SELECT
COUNT Statement

COUNT returns the number of input rows that match a specific

condition of a query

COUNT can be applied on a specific column or just passed as

COUNT(*), both giving same results
WHERE Statement
WHERE statement allows us to specify the
conditions on columns for the rows to be returned
OPERATOR DESCRIPTION

= EQUAL

> GREATER THAN

< LESS THAN

>= GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO

<= LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO

<> OR != NOT EQUAL TO

AND BOTH CONDITIONS TRUE

OR EITHER OF THE CONDITIONS TRUE

NOT OFFSET OF SPECIFIED CONDITION

ORDER BY Statement
SELECT company, name, sales FROM table
ORDER BY company, sales

COMPANY NAME SALES

Apple Andrew 100

Apple Zach 300

Google Claire 200

Google David 500

Xerox Steven 100

LIMIT Statement
The LIMIT command allows us to limit the number of rows
returned for a query.

Useful for not wanting to return every single row in a table, but only
view the top few rows to get an idea of the table layout

LIMIT also becomes useful in combination with ORDER BY

LIMIT goes at the very end of a query request and is the last
command to be executed
BETWEEN Statement

The BETWEEN operator can be used to match a value against a

range of values

value BETWEEN low AND high

Can be combined with NOT operator

Can be also used with dates in the format : YYYY-MM-DD

 IN Statement

The IN operator can be used to create a condition that checks to

see if a value is included in a list of multiple options for example if a
user’s name shows up in a list of know names

value IN ( option 1, option 2, option 3,........., option N )

LIKE & ILIKE Statement

In order to match a string against a general pattern we use LIKE

and ILIKE for example:
All emails ending with ‘@gmail.com’

LIKE & ILIKE allows us to perform pattern matching against string

data with the use of wildcard characters
● Percent % - Matches any sequence of characters
● Underscore _ - Matches any single character

LIKE is case-sensitive whereas ILIKE is case-insensitive

 LIKE & ILIKE Statement

All names that begin with ‘A’

WHERE name LIKE ‘A%’

All names that end with ‘a’

WHERE name LIKE ‘%a’

Get all Mission Impossible Films

WHERE name LIKE ‘Mission Impossible _ _’

Combination of Wildcards
WHERE name LIKE ‘_ her%’
● Cheryl
● Theresa
● Sherri
Aggregate Functions

The main idea behind aggregate function is to take multiple inputs

and return a single output

● AVG() - Returns floating point values. ROUND() can be used to

specify precision after the decimal
● COUNT()
● MAX()
● MIN()
● SUM()
GROUP BY Statement
GROUP BY allows us to aggregate data and apply functions to
better understand how data is distributed per category

Category Data A 10
A 10 A 5 Category Result
A 5
AVG() A 7.5
B 2
B 2
B 3
B 4
B 4
C 9
C 12 C 12

C 6 C 6
HAVING BY Statement

HAVING allows us to filter after an aggregation has already taken

place.

We can use it along with a GROUP BY

AS Statement

AS allows us to create an Alias for a column or a result

AS operator gets executed at the very end of the query meaning

we can not use the Alias inside a WHERE or HAVING operator
 INNER JOIN Statement
Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name

1 Andrew 1 Xavier 1 Andrew 2 Andrew

2 Bob 2 Andrew 2 Bob 4 Bob

3 Charlie 3 Yauren

4 David 4 Bob
 FULL OUTER JOIN Statement
Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name Red_ID Name Log_ID Name

1 Andrew 1 Xavier 1 Andrew 2 Andrew

2 Bob 2 Andrew 2 Bob 4 Bob

3 Charlie 3 Yauren 3 Charlie null null

4 David 4 Bob 4 David null null

null null 1 Xavier

null null 3 Yauren

 FULL OUTER JOIN with WHERE
Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name Red_ID Name Log_ID Name

1 Andrew 1 Xavier 3 Charlie null null

2 Bob 2 Andrew 4 David null null

3 Charlie 3 Yauren null null 1 Xavier

4 David 4 Bob null null 3 Yauren

 LEFT OUTER JOIN Statement
Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name Red_ID Name Log_ID Name

1 Andrew 1 Xavier 1 Andrew 2 Andrew

2 Bob 2 Andrew 2 Bob 4 Bob

3 Charlie 3 Yauren 3 Charlie null null

4 David 4 Bob 4 David null null

 LEFT OUTER JOIN with WHERE
Reg_ID Name Log_ID Name Red_ID Name Log_ID Name

1 Andrew 1 Xavier 3 Charlie null null

2 Bob 2 Andrew 4 David null null

3 Charlie 3 Yauren

4 David 4 Bob