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Module 1: Foundations and Mental Models

This module introduces the core concepts of Relational Databases and the SQL language. Before writing complex queries, it is essential to understand the underlying structure of data and how to communicate your requirements to the database engine.

Learning Objectives

Section titled “Learning Objectives”

In this module, you will:

  • Transition from “loop-based” thinking to “set-based” thinking.
  • Learn the logical order of execution for a SQL query.
  • Master basic data retrieval using the SELECT and FROM clauses.
  • Filter data using WHERE and logical operators.
  • Understand the complexity of NULL values and Three-Valued Logic.
  • Sort and limit your results for presentation.

Chapters

Section titled “Chapters”
1.1 The Relational Model Understanding tables, rows, columns, and the concept of Thinking in Sets.
1.2 The Select Statement The Big 6 clauses and the Logical Order of Execution.
1.3 Basic Filtering Using the WHERE clause to isolate specific data points.
1.4 Logic and Comparison Mastering AND, OR, NOT, and range operators like BETWEEN.
1.5 Handling NULLs Why NULL != NULL and how to handle missing data.
1.6 Sorting and Limiting Organizing results with ORDER BY and LIMIT.