Overview
Beginner SQL Commands
Practice
A hands-on SQL course built on repetition and practical business exercises — mastering the six core SQL commands every analyst uses every day.
Course Learning Objectives
- Retrieve business data from relational tables using SELECT — all columns, specific columns, and aliased output.
- Filter records with precision using WHERE — comparison operators, AND/OR logic, IN, BETWEEN, LIKE, and IS NULL.
- Sort query results using ORDER BY — ascending and descending, single and multi-column sort.
- Restrict output and build Top N reports using LIMIT in combination with ORDER BY.
- Group records into business categories and apply aggregation functions using GROUP BY — COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX.
- Filter grouped summaries using HAVING to apply business thresholds and identify meaningful categories.
- Use AI tools effectively to generate, verify, and troubleshoot SQL queries against real business questions.
Part 1 establishes the foundation. SELECT is the first command in every SQL query — it names the columns to retrieve and the table to retrieve them from. Students learn to select all columns with *, select specific columns by name, rename columns with AS aliases, and read table structures as a first step in any new analysis.
The two-line SELECT…FROM structure that underpins every SQL query.
Using SELECT * to return every column from a table when exploring a dataset.
Naming the exact columns you need for focused, analyst-ready output.
Renaming columns in query output using AS for reports and dashboards.
- Practice focus: retrieving business data from the users, products, orders, and transactions tables
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Part 2 adds filtering. WHERE narrows a query from all records to only the rows that meet a specific condition. Students work through every WHERE pattern used in business analytics — from simple equality checks to multi-value lists, ranges, pattern matching, and NULL identification.
How WHERE evaluates each row and returns only those that match the condition.
Comparison operators for exact matches, exclusions, and numeric thresholds.
Combining multiple conditions — AND requires all, OR requires any.
Shorthand operators for multiple values, ranges, and pattern searches.
Identifying missing or present data — essential for data quality and subscription analysis.
- Practice focus: isolating relevant business records from users, transactions, orders, and subscriptions
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Part 3 adds sorting. ORDER BY organizes query output into a logical sequence — alphabetical, chronological, or by value. Students practise ascending and descending sorts, multi-column sort hierarchies, and combining ORDER BY with WHERE filters to produce organized business reports.
How ORDER BY controls the sequence in which rows are returned.
Ascending (low to high, oldest to newest) and descending (high to low, newest to oldest).
Using more than one column to produce a precise, multi-level sort order.
- Practice focus: organizing data for reporting and analysis across users, transactions, products, subscriptions, and support tickets
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Part 4 introduces LIMIT. Students learn to cap query output at a fixed row count, combine LIMIT with ORDER BY to build Top N business reports, and understand the correct SQL clause order: SELECT → FROM → WHERE → ORDER BY → LIMIT.
How LIMIT stops query results after a fixed number of rows.
Combining ORDER BY with LIMIT to retrieve the highest or lowest N records.
Using WHERE, ORDER BY, and LIMIT together for focused ranked subsets.
- Practice focus: retrieving focused subsets of business data — top transactions, cheapest products, most recent orders
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Part 5 introduces aggregation. GROUP BY organizes records into categories and applies COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, or MAX to produce one summary row per group. Students build the grouped business metrics used in dashboards, reports, and operational summaries.
How GROUP BY collapses rows with the same category value into a single summary row.
Applying COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), and MAX() to calculate grouped metrics.
Building the summary outputs that power dashboards, reports, and KPI tracking.
- Practice focus: calculating grouped business metrics across users, transactions, orders, products, subscriptions, and support tickets
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Part 6 completes the core SQL command set. HAVING filters the grouped summaries produced by GROUP BY — applying business thresholds to aggregated data. Students learn the critical distinction between WHERE (filters rows before grouping) and HAVING (filters groups after aggregation), and practise the full clause order: SELECT → FROM → WHERE → GROUP BY → HAVING → ORDER BY → LIMIT.
How HAVING evaluates each group summary and keeps only those meeting the condition.
Using HAVING with COUNT(), SUM(), and AVG() to filter grouped output.
Applying business rules to summarized data — revenue thresholds, volume minimums, price benchmarks.
- Practice focus: identifying meaningful grouped insights across users, transactions, orders, products, subscriptions, and support tickets
- 8 practice queries — each with an AI prompt and a validated SQL answer
Course at a Glance
Six parts · 48 practice queries · 7 course tables
| Part | Command | Core Focus | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | SELECT | Retrieving columns, SELECT *, aliases with AS, reading table structures | 8 Queries |
| Part 2 | WHERE | Filtering rows, =, !=, >, <, AND/OR, IN, BETWEEN, LIKE, IS NULL | 8 Queries |
| Part 3 | ORDER BY | Sorting results ASC and DESC, multi-column sorting | 8 Queries |
| Part 4 | LIMIT | Restricting output, Top N queries, combining with ORDER BY | 8 Queries |
| Part 5 | GROUP BY | Grouping records, aggregation by category, business summaries | 8 Queries |
| Part 6 | HAVING | Filtering grouped results, aggregation conditions, business thresholds | 8 Queries |
Every practice question in this course includes a business question, an AI prompt designed for ChatGPT or Copilot, the validated SQL answer, and guidance on interpreting the result. Students learn to prompt AI effectively, verify SQL correctness, troubleshoot logic issues, and connect query output to real business decisions.
What You Leave With
Six commands. Forty-eight practice queries. One complete SQL foundation.
The ability to retrieve any combination of columns from any table — the foundation of every SQL query.
Precision filtering using every operator analysts use in industry — from equality checks to NULL identification.
The ability to sort and rank business data for reports, dashboards, and Top N analysis.
Focused dataset retrieval — previewing large tables and building Top N business reports efficiently.
Grouped business metrics — COUNT, SUM, AVG — for revenue summaries, fulfilment rates, and operational KPIs.
Threshold-based filtering on aggregated data — surfacing only the categories that meet meaningful business criteria.
The ability to prompt, verify, and troubleshoot AI-generated SQL in the same workflow used by professional analysts.
Certificate of Completion from the Canadian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (CiAI), powered by DataSoSi.
