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Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

selectstarsql.com

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Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#11
This is good intiative. We need to simplify pedagogy.

On a related note, I always found the syntax of SQL to be great. Someone told me that simplicity of SQL made relational databases even more popular. It is one of the best designed language where even someone new to the field won't feel intimidated. I'm surprised designers of SQL haven't won the Turing Award yet.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#12
post #7

This is gorgeous, and a great topic. No matter what field you're working in, understanding databases is extraordinarily valuable...and SQL is among the longest lasting techs I've ever learned (e.g. name another programming language that is as valuable today as it was 20 years ago, if not moreso). Even with the rise of NoSQL databases, I suspect we'll all still need to know a little SQL in another 20 years (and it was…

> name another programming language that is as valuable today as it was 20 years ago, if not moreso

* C

* Python

* Java

20 years ago was 1998.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#13
post #11

This is good intiative. We need to simplify pedagogy. On a related note, I always found the syntax of SQL to be great. Someone told me that simplicity of SQL made relational databases even more popular. It is one of the best designed language where even someone new to the field won't feel intimidated. I'm surprised designers of SQL haven't won the Turing Award yet.

I teach SQL to financial people and, for the most part, it isn't too bad. When I get to joins, I teach a subset of SQL where all joins are done through INNER JOIN / LEFT JOIN syntax and that helps a lot. Joins are the part that everyone has trouble with.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#14
post #4

I really like your explanations. I have never been able to wrap my head around joins. You say that: "Programming is best learned by doing", but I am struggling to do anything... It would be great if there was some online area like SQL Fiddle with the data loaded, so I can run queries and see results in my browser without having to set anything up or am I missing something.

sqlzoo.net might be something you would like.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#15
post #7

This is gorgeous, and a great topic. No matter what field you're working in, understanding databases is extraordinarily valuable...and SQL is among the longest lasting techs I've ever learned (e.g. name another programming language that is as valuable today as it was 20 years ago, if not moreso). Even with the rise of NoSQL databases, I suspect we'll all still need to know a little SQL in another 20 years (and it was…

> name another programming language that is as valuable today as it was 20 years ago, if not moreso * C * Python * Java 20 years ago was 1998.

C I agree with.

But Java and Python? Both languages have changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years. A programmer who hasn't touched either for 20 years would probably be overwhelmed.

Another difference is that even though SQL has changed, there isn't much you need to know outside of the DBMS you are using. With Java and Python on the other hand, you need to keep up with the changing library landscape to stay relevant.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#16
post #4

I really like your explanations. I have never been able to wrap my head around joins. You say that: "Programming is best learned by doing", but I am struggling to do anything... It would be great if there was some online area like SQL Fiddle with the data loaded, so I can run queries and see results in my browser without having to set anything up or am I missing something.

(self plug) pgexercises.com provides something like this.

The code is open source, anyone is welcome to fork and populate with new data like this.

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#18
post #4

I really like your explanations. I have never been able to wrap my head around joins. You say that: "Programming is best learned by doing", but I am struggling to do anything... It would be great if there was some online area like SQL Fiddle with the data loaded, so I can run queries and see results in my browser without having to set anything up or am I missing something.

All the blue boxes are actually interactive code editors. You can run arbitrary queries against the dataset in them. I changed some of the wording to make it clearer. Hopefully that helps!

Re: Show HN: Select Star SQL, an interactive SQL book

#19
post #4

I really like your explanations. I have never been able to wrap my head around joins. You say that: "Programming is best learned by doing", but I am struggling to do anything... It would be great if there was some online area like SQL Fiddle with the data loaded, so I can run queries and see results in my browser without having to set anything up or am I missing something.

(self plug) pgexercises.com provides something like this. The code is open source, anyone is welcome to fork and populate with new data like this.

I learned SQL mostly by using your site, thank you for making it!
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