SQL Basics

Welcome to the SQL Course

NL

This SQL course covers the material from the book "Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes" by Ben Forta. The course takes approximately 2 days to complete. Practice is essential to learning SQL. You can start practising immediately in the MySQL Playground linked below, or install the software yourself using the links below.


MySQL Playground

The link below opens a MySQL editor in a new tab. No installation is needed, so you can start practising straight away.

MySQL Playground (NL)

Apple Mac OS

Instruction Video Software Links Description
Video instructions (mp4) MySQL Server

MySQL Workbench 		The simplest way to practise SQL on an Apple computer is to use MySQL Server together with MySQL Workbench.
  • MySQL Server manages the database
  • Workbench is the graphical application in which you write queries
Although MySQL is now maintained by Oracle, it remains open source and popular, including among Mac users.

Tip: instead of Workbench, you can also use Sequel Ace or DBeaver . Ask ChatGPT about the differences.
Video instructions (mp4) MAMP MySQL Server

MySQL Workbench 		MAMP is an all-in-one server package that installs, among other things, a MySQL Server and an Apache web server . Web developers often use this combination to develop and test websites locally.
  • Also includes a simple email server for testing
  • Queries can be written using the included phpMyAdmin
Because phpMyAdmin can be limited and cumbersome for more extensive query work, you may also want to install MySQL Workbench .

Microsoft Windows

Instruction Video Software Links Description
Video instructions (mp4) 1) MS SQL Server

2) SSMS 		The simplest way to practise SQL on a Windows computer is to use Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express (or an earlier version such as 2019 or 2017), together with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
  • SQL Server manages the database
  • SSMS is the application in which you write queries
Both applications are easy to install and suitable for beginners and experienced users alike.
Video instructions (mp4) 1) Oracle SQL Server

2) SQL Developer 		An alternative on Windows is to use Oracle Server software together with SQL Developer. This combination is widely used, especially in larger organisations.
  • Oracle Server manages the database
  • SQL Developer is used to write queries
This solution works well, but can feel more technical than the Microsoft alternative.

Web-based

Instruction Video Software Links Description
Video instructions (mp4)Oracle Apex If you do not have permission to install software on your computer, you can still practise SQL at apex.oracle.com, an online environment provided by Oracle. Here you can:
  • Create a free account
  • Practise with a real Oracle database
  • Write SQL queries in your browser
For this course, you can set up the practice database using the create.txt and populate.txt files in database.zip. After importing these files, you can start practising.
Video instructions (mp4) SQLite Online An alternative to Oracle Apex is SQLite Online. This is useful if you cannot install Oracle, MySQL or SQL Server on your own computer.
  • Upload a SQLite database file
  • Run SQL queries directly in your browser
The required SQLite database is included in database.zip. Note: SQLite is a lightweight database and does not offer every feature of Oracle, MySQL or SQL Server, but it is sufficient for this course.

Extra Software

Instruction Video Software Links Description
Video instructions (mp4) SQL ProStudio

Docker 		SQL ProStudio is a paid application for writing queries, available for Windows and Mac. It offers:
  • A convenient, fast interface
  • Support for several DBMSs at once (MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, SQLite)
  • Good integration with Docker
With Docker you can run isolated containers, for example:
  • A complete Linux distribution with PostgreSQL
  • Without changing your main operating system
Docker is useful as a test and development environment.
Video instructions (mp4) SchemaSpy When writing queries, an ER diagram (Entity Relationship Diagram) is very useful. Drawing one by hand can be time-consuming. SchemaSpy is a free application that automatically generates ER diagrams from an existing database (reverse engineering).
  • Fast and efficient
  • Compatible with Windows and Mac
  • Useful for database analysis
Video instructions (mp4) dbdiagram.io You can create an ER diagram with SchemaSpyby giving it access to your database. An alternative is dbdiagram.io, which lets you create an ERD without a database connection.

Simply enter the structure of your database (the CREATE TABLE statements).

Use the link below to copy the TySQL database definition used in this course. Then paste it into dbdiagram.io to generate an ERD.

TySQL for dbdiagram.io

Website for the book database.zip ER Diagram (NL) Database Content (NL)

Topics:

  • What is a relational DBMS?
  • Queries: the SELECT statement
  • Sorting: the ORDER BY clause
  • Filters: the WHERE clause
  • Calculations: aggregate functions
  • Grouping: the GROUP BY clause
  • Building blocks: subqueries
  • INNER JOINS & OUTER JOINS
  • Modifying tables: INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE
  • Creating tables: CREATE, ALTER, DROP
Last updated: 22 Oct 2026 | 4184 visits since May 2022
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