Introduction
The digital transformation has motivated industries to adopt a new approach towards business operations. Today, every business ranging from small companies to Fortune 5 organizations is powered by data to gain insights into their business and market scenarios.
Efficient data management becomes a priority with an enormous amount of data being generated daily. Therefore, the demand for database administration professionals has increased tremendously in recent years.
Although SQL databases have been existing in the IT industry for decades, it is still considered useful. SQL continues to be the core of every corporation’s backend and a vital factor in the field of data analytics. Thus, a career as a database developer or a SQL developer is a lucrative job position among the industry’s highest-paying jobs.
However, getting a grasp of a new skill or upgrading skills from the ground up is a daunting task, especially when learning an entirely new programming language.
Luckily, with the emergence of the online platform, several top-tier universities and other educational institutions offer in-depth courses covering all SQL aspects. However, the roadblock occurs due to a wide range of offerings, and some of the courses don’t meet the learners’ expectations.
Thus, it becomes essential to find the appropriate course that provides a well-balanced curriculum with theory and builds the hands-on experience with a keen eye on the cost factor and schedule. The article deep dives further and explores some of the most popular courses available on the online platform currently.
Related reading: Top 15 Online Courses to Learn Python
1. Modern Big Data Analysis with SQL Specialization – Coursera
The course is available on the Coursera platform that is offered by a well-known software company –Cloudera. It is a specialization course that teaches the essentials of working with large-scale data using SQL.
The course duration is approximately 4 months. The course’s key takeaways understand the difference between operational and analytical databases and how it is applicable in big data. Additionally, the learners can have an in-depth understanding of the volume and variety of data and how it affects the type of database system’s choice.
Furthermore, the learners can understand how database and table design is related to forming the structure of working with data. The learners can also recognize the features and benefits of SQL dialects required for working with big data systems for storage and analytical purposes. The course also has a strong emphasis on building the hands-on experience for the learners.
The course curriculum includes the following:
- Foundations for Big Data Analysis with SQL:Â Distinguish operational and analytical database, explore database and table designs in a big data platform, table designs providing the structure for working with data, volume, and variety
- Analyzing Big Data with SQL:Â Explore and navigate databases using different tools, basics of SELECT statements, filters, grouping and aggregation for analytics, sorting and limiting results, and multi-table combinations.
- Managing Big Data in Clusters and Cloud Storage:Â Tools for exploring existing databases and tables in big data systems, exploring files in distributed big data file systems and cloud storage, creating and managing big data databases using Apache Hive and Impala, understand the data types and file formats for big data systems.
Instructor: Glynn Durham and Ian Cook
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.8/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges may apply for certificate)
2. Learn SQL Basics for Data Science Specialization – Coursera
The course is intended for learners for beginners with no prior coding experience. It is a specialization course of 4 months duration that UC Davis offers on Coursera. The course introduces relational database concepts and progresses with advanced SQL projects at the end. The course covers the topics of SQL fundamentals, data wrangling, SQL analysis, and AB testing.
Also, the concepts on distributed computing using Apache Spark are covered as well. All of the course topics are suitable for learners to be prepared for using SQL creatively while analyzing and exploring extensive data.
Besides, the beginners can develop proficiency in writing queries for data analysis, feature engineering, SQL use with machine learning toolsets, and SQL with unstructured data.
Some of the course’s takeaways include understanding the SQL commands’ use to filter, sort, and summarize data, learn to manipulate strings, dates, and numerical data from various sources.
The learners can understand the use of collaborative data bricks workspace and creating end-end pipelines. Finally, the creation and assessment of data using SQL and learning to read data, transform, use metrics, and statistical analysis to present the data’s findings.
The course curriculum includes the following.
- SQL for Data Science
- Data Wrangling, Analysis and AB Testing with SQL
- Distributed Computing with Spark SQL
- SQL for Data Science Capstone Project
Instructor: Sadie St. Lawrence, Brooke Wenig, Don Noxon, Katrina Glaeser, and Conor Murphy
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.1/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges may apply for certificate)
3. The Complete SQL Bootcamp 2021: Go from Zero to Hero – Udemy
The course is available on Udemy. It is a beginner-oriented course aiming to teach the basics of SQL to query a database, be familiar with SQL and PostgreSQL, able to replicate real-world scenarios in the query reports. The learners can explore data analysis concepts using SQL and how to use GROUP BY statements. Besides, the course provides a hands-on experience and certificate of completion at the end of the course.Â
At the end of the course, the learners will use PostgreSQL and PgAdmin to have a clear understanding of SQL syntax, data analysis using aggregate functions, running advanced queries, and using logical operators. Also, essential concepts of SQL JOIN commands and creating tables and databases with constraints are covered.Â
The course modules are listed below.
- Introduction
- Overview of Databases
- Installation
- PgAdmin Overview
- SQL Statement Fundamentals
- GROUP BY Statements
- Assessment Test 1
- JOINS
- Advanced SQL Commands
- Assessment Test 2
- Creating Databases and Tables
- Assessment Test 3
- Conditional Expressions and Procedures
- PostgreSQL with Python
- Bonus Section
Instructor: Jose Portilla
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 83 Video Lectures
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: $6.2 (Varies according to region)
4. SQL – MySQL for Data Analytics and Business Intelligence – Udemy
The course is offered on the Udemy platform. It is a beginner course for people looking to build a career as a SQL developer, database administrator, or business intelligence expert. The program is among the most comprehensive online courses for SQL. By the end of the course, the learners can master the SQL concepts. The course covers the basics of the most complex MySQL queries.
The takeaways from the course understand the database management system, SQL best practices, data analytical tools, relational database management theories, and the ability to control the dataset using insert, update, and deleting records from the database.
Additionally, learners will gain insight into answering the business-specific question using SQL’s aggregate function. Furthermore, advanced concepts of database administration and business intelligence are covered in-depth. The learners will also develop a business intuition for solving tasking using big data and acquiring top-notch coding techniques and experience.
The course contents are:
- Introduction to Databases, SQL, and MySQL
- SQL Theory
- Basic Database Terminology
- Installing MySQL
- First Steps in SQL
- MySQL Constraints
- SQL Best Practices
- Loading the Database
- SQL Statements
- MySQL Aggregate Functions
- SQL JOINS
- Subqueries
- SQL Self Join and Stored Routines
- SQL Views
- Advanced SQL Topics
- Combining SQL and Tableau
- Practice SQL
- Bonus Lecture
Instructor: 365 Careers Institution
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 286 Video Lectures
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: $6.2 (Varies according to region)
5. SQL Certification Training Course – Simplilearn
The SQL certification course is intended to cover the fundamentals of SQL, query tools, and SQL commands. It is offered on the Simplilearn platform. The course is ideal for beginners and programmers who want to add SQL knowledge to their skill set. This certification course follows an interactive learning process to build the SQL skills of learners.
The course modules are listed below.
- Introduction
- Installation
- Case Study Demo
- Fundamental SQL Statements
- Restore and Back up
- Selection Commands Filtering
- Selection Commands Ordering
- Alias
- Aggregate Commands
- Group by Commands
- Conditional Statements
- JOINS
- Subqueries
- Views and Indexes
- String Functions
- Mathematical Functions
- Date Time Functions
- Pattern Matching
- Data Type Conversion Functions
- User Access Control Functions
- Bonus Section
- Performance Tuning
- Additional Database Basics
Instructor: Simplilearn Instructors/ Industry Expert
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 90 Video Lectures
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: Price Available on Sign up
6. Introduction to SQL – Pluralsight
The course is available on Pluralsight. It is aimed at providing the essential SQL knowledge and building the programming skills of the learners. The course will help establish a strong SQL base that is crucial when working with advanced technologies in data science and big data. The learners will be introduced to query data and shape the results, creating and modifying data in the tables in a database. By the end of the course, the learners will understand how to create and use a relational database.
The course modules are.
- Introduction
- The Relational Model
- Understanding the Basic SQL Syntax
- Querying Data with the SELECT Statement
- Filtering Results with the WHERE Clause
- Shaping Results with ORDER BY and GROUP BY
- Matching Different Data Tables with JOIN
- Adding, Changing, and Removing Data
- Creating Database Tables
Instructor: Jon Flanders
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 74 Video Lectures
User Review: 4.8/5
Price: 10- Days Free Trial (Charges applicable at the end of trial period)
7. Learn SQL: Nanodegree Program – Udacity
The program is offered on the Udacity platform. It is a nanodegree program that is equivalent to a specialization. This is among the best online SQL courses available on the online platform. The course covers essential concepts on creating and executing SQL and NoSQL queries, learning to dissect large-scale datasets, and leveraging SQL commands’ power for data analysis.
Furthermore, the functions and data cleaning methodologies are covered in-depth, and the aggregate functions. Finally, the learners will understand how to tune the performance fine to provide strategic support for business decisions. Also, the learners will be familiar with how to use relational database management techniques to normalize data schemas.
There are some prerequisites for the course: familiarity with operating systems, Microsoft Word and Google Docs, presentation software and spreadsheet programs, and a basic understanding of data types. The course duration is 2 months. Additionally, there will be hands-on experience on real-world projects, project feedback from experienced reviewers, technical mentor support and student community forum, resume support, and GitHub review.
The course curriculum is highlighted below.
- Introduction to SQL
- Management of Relational and Non-Relational Databases
Instructor: Malavica Sridhar, Ziad Saab, Derek Steer
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.5/5
Price: $532 Approximately
8. SQL for Data Science – IBM – edX
The course is offered on the edX platform in collaboration with IBM. The emphasis of the program is to build hands-on experience and a practical understanding of SQL. The learners will be working with real databases, data science tools, and real-world datasets. The learners will also understand how to create a database instance in the cloud, build and run SQL queries, and access the database from the Jupyter notebook using SQL.
There are no prerequisites for the course. At the end of the course, the learners can master the SQL language’s foundational knowledge, database in the cloud, string patterns and ranges to query data, sort, and group data, and analyze data using Python. The course is a part of the professional certificate course on IBM data science on edX. However, it can be enrolled separately.
Instructor: Rav Ahuja
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges apply for certificate)
9. Databases: Relational Databases and SQL – Stanford – edX
The course is a part of the self-paced courses on Databases. It was among the inaugural massive open online courses that are now offered on edX. The course builds the foundations of relational databases and covers all aspects of SQL. Some of the advanced topics: OLAP and recursion, indexes, transactions, constraints, triggers, views, and authorization are covered.
The learners can develop a strong understanding of relational databases, database design and methodologies, and semi-structured data. All the courses are covered with interactive sessions, video lectures, and demos. Additionally, there are quizzes, video segments to check the understanding of the learners, and exercises.
The course modules are.
- Introduction to Relational databases and SQL
- Index Creation for increased query performance
- Transactions for concurrency control and failure recovery
- Database constraints
- Triggers
- SQL Views
- Authorization in relational databases
- Star Schemas
- OLAP
- Relational Algebra
- Dependency Theory
- UML and data modeling component
- XML model for semi-structured data
- JSON model for human-readable structured and semi-structured data
- An introduction to XSLT
Instructor: Jennifer Widom
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: NA
Price: Free Enrollment (Additional charges apply for certificate)
10. Introduction to Databases and SQL – FutureLearn
The course is available on the Futurelearn platform. It is designed for learners who have no prior experience with creating a database and SQL. The takeaways from the course are that the learners will be able to produce SQL statements to search and update a database, learn how to use filters in SQL statements, produce SQL statements for searching across several tables, understand the critical differences between database and spreadsheet and use SQL statements to create relationships for tables in a database.
The course modules are:
- What is a database?
- Explore a database
- Databases in society
- Introduction to SQL
- Reading data within a database
- Modifying data within a database
- Adapting databases
- Relationships
- Data Analytics
Instructor: Raspberry Pi Foundation and Teach Computing
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.7/5
Price: $49 monthly/$279.99 yearly
11. Advanced SQL for Data Scientists – LinkedIn Learning
The course is offered on the LinkedIn Learning platform. The course provides an overview of SQL and the important SQL topics that data scientists must be aware of when working with relational databases.
The basics of SQL statistics, data preparation, advanced filtering and data aggregation, window functions, and preparing data for analytical purposes are covered in the course. It is a self-paced course.
The course modules are:
- Introduction
- SQL as a tool for Data Science
- Basic Statistics with SQL
- Data Munging with SQL
- Filtering, JOINS, and Aggregation
- Window Functions and Ordered Data
- Preparing Data for Analytics Tools
Instructor: Dan Sullivan
Level: Advanced
Video Lectures: 29 Video Lectures
User Review: NA
Price: 1 Month Free Trial ($31.4 Approximately after Trial Period)
12. Excel to MySQL by Duke University – Coursera
The course is a specialization course offered by Duke University on the Coursera platform. It is a comprehensive course of approximately 7 months’ duration. The learners will understand how to frame business challenges as data questions and have analytical tools and MySQL for analyzing data.
Besides, the learners can create forecasts and models, design visualization, and communicate data insights. The Capstone projects’ top performers will have an opportunity to present their work to senior data scientists at Airbnb live for feedback and suggestions.
The course modules are:
- Business Metrics for Data-Driven Companies
- Mastering Data Analysis in Excel
- Data Visualization and Communication with Tableau
- Managing Big Data with MySQL
- Increasing Real Estate Management Profits: Harnessing Data Analytics
Instructor: Daniel Egger and Jana Schaich Borg
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.6/5
Price: Free Enrollment (Charges May apply for certification)
13. SQL for Data Analysis – Udacity
The course is available on Udacity. Although the course is part of the nano degree program on programming for data science with Python on the same platform, this SQL course is available for free.
The learners will explore the concepts of SQL and its use in extracting and analyzing data stored in a database, join tables and perform aggregation. Also, the learners will understand complex analysis concepts and manipulations using subqueries, temp tables, and window functions. By the end of the course, the learners can be confident about writing SQL queries to handle an extensive data set for analytical usage successfully.
It is important to note that if anyone wishes to advance to the nanodegree program to complete this course, there are additional charges for the same. The prerequisite for the course is familiarity with data in spreadsheets.
The course contents are:
- SQL Basics
- SQL JOINS
- SQL Aggregations
- Subqueries
- Use of Temp Tables
- SQL Data Cleaning
- Window Functions
Instructor: Derek Steer
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: NA
User Review: 4.8/5
Price: Free
14. The Complete Oracle SQL Bootcamp 2022 – Udemy
The course covers the essentials of Oracle SQL. It is offered on the Udemy platform. Besides covering the fundamentals of SQL, this course offers appropriate guidance and concepts to clear the Oracle 1Z0-071 exam. Also, the learners can understand how to read, write and analyze any SQL query and work with the data.
There are over a hundred hands-on examples that are covered and additional quizzes and challenges. SQL interview questions are provided along with professionally designed content for the Oracle SQL exam. Additionally, the learners can create analytical solutions.
The course modules are:
- Database Concepts
- Software Download and Installation
- Retrieving Data
- Restricting Data
- Sorting
- Using Substitution Variables
- Single Row Functions
- Conversion Functions
- Conditional Expressions
- Group Functions
- Grouping Data
- Joining Multiple Tables
- Using Subqueries
- Working with the Oracle SET Operators
- Data Manipulation Language Statements
- Data Definition Language Statements
- Creating Constraints
- Conclusion
Instructor: Oracle Master Training and Code Star Academy
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 151 Video Lectures
User Review: 4.5/5
Price: $6.2 (Varies according to region)
15. The Ultimate MySQL Bootcamp: Go from SQL Beginner to Expert – Udemy
The course is offered on the Udemy platform. It is among the bestselling courses available on the platform.
The key takeaways from the course are:
- Learning the SQL syntax
- Able to generate sales and user data reports
- Using aggregate functions
- Run complex queries using MySQL logical operators and string functions
- SQL JOINS
- Understand how to work with large datasets
- Build a web app using MySQL and NodeJS
- Master the skills to design and implement complex database schemas
- Cloning of database structure
- Under the procedure to generate fake data sets.
- The course curriculum includes the following.
- Introduction
- Getting Started: Overview and Installation
- Creating Databases and Tables
- Inserting Data
- CRUD Commands
- CRUD Challenge Section
- The World of String Functions
- Refining Selection
- Aggregate Functions
- Data Types
- Logical Operators
- One to Many
- Many to Many
- Database Clone
- Working with Instagram Data
- Node
- Web App
- Database Triggers
Conclusion
A good understanding of SQL is not limited to database entries and management. The opportunities are endless, with promising job roles that are challenging but drawing a competitive salary.
With the advent of technologies, such as data science and big data, the importance of SQL has doubled. SQL is still considered among the top programming languages to tackle databases and their management. SQL is preferred by all the top companies in the industry today. It is among the most in-demand skill, and the scope of working as a SQL developer is immense.
Now is a great time to be upskilling the knowledge base with SQL. However, within a competitive industry, it is essential to be equipped with the right skill sets and to do so, it is crucial to select the right course that can provide the balance of theoretical and practical know-how.
Alongside, an industry-recognized certificate can uplift the career of a professional, therefore the article aimed at providing some of the top SQL online courses that can be a valuable addition while enhancing the skills of aspirants and pro-level programmers to build successful careers in the field of data science, business analytics and more.
