Just curious how you learned. Best way to learn, etc.

I'm looking to have my employer pay for my training, and I'm kind of lost with respect on how to most effectively learn.

I don't have access to any live databases, so hands-on training right now isn't an option. It may be, though.

Thanks guys and gals

 

I learned SQL while in college but didn't really push myself to learn more about it until I was using it for my freelance work and for my full-time job Unfortunately I look back and regret not applying myself a little more while in school when it comes to many of the technologies I use on a daily basis.

Oh and one more thing about SQL is that there are so many different flavors that each has it's quirks and it can be daunting to learn the ins and outs of all of them and the nuances between the versions of each.

 

Hands-on is available. You can download SQL Server Express, which will give you the database engine. Then download a trial of SQL Server (the full version) and only install the management tools, that will give you the tools to design queries and whatnot. If SQL Express doesn't come with Northwind and pubs, which are their demo databases used in all their sample code and training material, you can download it.

I don't know what report writing tool you'll be using, but at least at that point you'd have the backend and can practice writing queries.

 

^Likewise, Oracle allows you to download all their software for free for development purposes. You can run Oracle Express on a laptop.

There's also MySQL and Postgres which are both open source and used a lot in the real world.

I guess the point we're making is the best way to learn SQL is by doing, and thinking "I don't have access to any live databases" is no excuse. Start by learning SQL syntax. Create a few tables, learn to add data to the tables, update data, remove data, link data from various tables, and then keep going from there.

Check out w3schools, too: http://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp

 

I learned SSRS by hands-on training. I never read any books but used teh interwebz as I needed answers. My workplace was using crystal reports with SQL backend and I hated it so I started looking into it and installed SSRS 2005 and we've pretty much abandoned crystal reports.

 

in my prior role i used to use MySQL alot... when building queries in my early days fresh out of college, i started with MS Access wizard to build out the query... it was all i learned from college and the only piece of software i understood and was commonly found on all corp PCs.... you can use the wizard to build and run, then look at the SQL code... there are main functions and tag lines that are commonly used... after a while, as long as you know where you are looking for the dataset, you can just start to write it from scratch... eventually my company sent me on an external vendor training to help improve my SQL capabilities... but then i moved on to a new company and new role...

 

Just as MSQL and Oracle, you can run a MySQL database on your computer, set up some database users and then use MySQL Workbench to connect to the database server and create databases, tables, views, etc and write SQL scripts that you can run against what you set up.

MySQL Workbench can be found here:

wp.mysql.com

You can can the community versions of MySQL here:

http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

 

Wow you guys, thanks! I really appreciate the awesome advice and info.

 

I've been meaning to learn mySQL for awhile.
Are there some decent online tutorials out there?

 

This is a start, but the documentation for each type of database is also a good start because you'll learn the ins and outs of the database, many do things the same, but some databases are specific as to how you should perform a certain type of task.

Very important:
Learning SQL will certainly teach you the basics of writing good quieres, but understanding how to create what is commonly known as a "normalized" database is a whole other area and is the most important aspect of creating and managing a database. And that is dependent on also knowing the specifics of the type of database engine you are working with.