Microsoft SQL Course

Lesson 1 • Relational Database Fundamentals

Covers tables, rows, columns, keys, and relationships as core database structures. Establishes the conceptual model students rely on throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • SQL Server Environment Setup

Guides installation and configuration of SQL Server and SQL Server Management Studio. Students gain a working local environment for all hands-on exercises.

Lesson 3 • Core SQL Language Categories

Introduces DDL, DML, DCL, and TCL as the four SQL command categories. Students understand which commands belong to each category before writing any queries.

Lesson 1 • Filtering Data with WHERE

Teaches comparison and logical operators inside WHERE clauses to restrict rows. Directly extends the SELECT queries introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 2 • Pattern Matching and Wildcards

Covers LIKE, wildcard characters, and ESCAPE for text-based filtering. Students filter string columns without knowing exact values.

Lesson 3 • Built-in Scalar Functions

Introduces string, numeric, and date scalar functions for transforming column values. Students apply functions directly inside SELECT and WHERE clauses.

Lesson 1 • Filtering Groups with HAVING

Distinguishes HAVING from WHERE and shows how to filter aggregated results. Students apply post-aggregation conditions to refine summary queries.

Lesson 2 • Aggregate Functions

Teaches COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, and MAX to compute summary statistics across rows. Builds directly on SELECT and WHERE skills from prior chapters.

Lesson 3 • Advanced Grouping Extensions

Introduces ROLLUP, CUBE, and GROUPING SETS for multi-level subtotals. Students generate cross-tabular summaries in a single query.

Lesson 1 • Outer Joins

Covers LEFT, RIGHT, and FULL OUTER JOIN to include unmatched rows from one or both tables. Students handle optional relationships and detect missing data.

Lesson 2 • Multi-Table and Complex Joins

Extends joins to three or more tables and introduces non-equi joins. Students build queries that span entire normalized schemas.

Lesson 3 • Self Joins and Cross Joins

Explains joining a table to itself and generating Cartesian products with CROSS JOIN. Students solve hierarchical and combinatorial query problems.

Lesson 1 • Scalar and Multi-Row Subqueries

Teaches subqueries in SELECT, WHERE, and FROM clauses returning single or multiple values. Students embed one query inside another to filter or compute dynamically.

Lesson 2 • Recursive CTEs

Covers anchor and recursive members to traverse hierarchical data like org charts. Students query parent-child structures without procedural loops.

Lesson 3 • Common Table Expressions

Introduces WITH clause CTEs as named, temporary result sets for cleaner query structure. Students replace nested subqueries with readable, maintainable CTE blocks.

Lesson 1 • Inserting Data

Covers INSERT INTO with explicit values, SELECT results, and multi-row syntax. Students populate tables from both static values and existing query results.

Lesson 2 • Updating and Deleting Data

Teaches UPDATE and DELETE with WHERE conditions and join-based modifications. Students modify targeted rows while avoiding unintended full-table changes.

Lesson 3 • MERGE Statement

Introduces MERGE for upsert operations combining INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE in one statement. Students synchronize a target table with a source data set efficiently.

Lesson 1 • Indexes and Query Performance

Introduces clustered and non-clustered indexes and their impact on read performance. Students choose and create indexes that accelerate common query patterns.

Lesson 2 • Views

Teaches creating, altering, and dropping views to encapsulate complex queries. Students expose simplified data interfaces without duplicating underlying tables.

Lesson 3 • Stored Procedures and Functions

Covers creating stored procedures, scalar functions, and table-valued functions for reusable logic. Students encapsulate business logic inside the database layer.

Lesson 1 • Query Optimization and Execution Plans

Teaches reading execution plans, identifying bottlenecks, and applying rewrites for performance. Students diagnose and resolve slow queries in real database workloads.

Lesson 2 • Pivoting and Unpivoting Data

Covers PIVOT and UNPIVOT operators to rotate rows into columns and vice versa. Students reshape data sets for reporting and cross-tabular analysis.

Lesson 3 • Window Functions

Teaches OVER, PARTITION BY, and ORDER BY to compute running totals, ranks, and moving averages. Students perform analytics without collapsing rows via GROUP BY.