SQL and NoSQL are in demand, and learning these tech skills can help improve one’s career prospects.
These skills are essential for developers, data scientists, business analysts, or anyone working in related fields with data.
And as you might know, going with the trend and upgrading your skills helps in the long run, in addition to adding more skills into your resume.
According to a ScaleGrid report, SQL is still in high demand, with 60% of all the databases in use despite other databases’ popular offerings. And MySQL is the most popular one of all, with 39.52% demand.
But do you know what SQL and NoSQL are?
If your answer is no, let’s quickly look at these technical skills before uncovering useful learning resources.
What is SQL?
Before we go ahead with SQL, it’s important to know a little bit about databases.
The biggest asset of a company is data. And to store and organize it effectively, you need an efficient database. A database that can perform data storage, manipulation, analysis, and more.
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the language utilized for interacting with a table-based, relational database. Simply put, this type of database is known as a SQL database. Using SQL programming makes it easy to search, insert, delete, or update data in a database.
SQL is a versatile and powerful language that requires you to define the structural schemas so our data can be organized accordingly.
Examples of some SQL databases: MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc. More open-source databases are mentioned here.
Key features of SQL database:
- Highly versatile that you can apply to a large number of data models, making it suitable for applications of all types
- SQL database is scalable vertically by increasing RAM, SSD, or CPU and robust enough to withstand more load
- Huge collection of functions and tools to increase its power and usability
- Massive community with excellent support and documentation
What is NoSQL?
A NoSQL database is non-relational, with its data organized in a non-tabular structure. Mostly, the data here does not consist of a schema. Instead, it has a key-value and is document-based.
Some examples of NoSQL databases: MongoDB, Redis, DynamoDB, RavenDB, etc.
Key features of NoSQL databases:
- As there is no predefined schema, data can be organized and stored with better flexibility. It is useful to align the data structure based on the type of application you want to develop.
- NoSQL is also scalable, but horizontally. It means you can add a more significant number of servers to the database. It is beneficial for more powerful and more extensive applications.
Check out difference between SQL and NoSQL.
Why learn SQL and NoSQL?
As data drive the present-day world, people search and utilize data to gain insights and make informed business strategy, operations, marketing, and more.
Many businesses use massive relational databases that require their employees to have a basic understanding of databases and SQL as one of the technical skills.
On average, the SQL developers get a salary of around $70k-$90k a year in the US.
Looking at the high demands, it makes sense to learn SQL and NoSQL for better career prospects. And to gain the skills, let’s look at some of the resources you can take up and get certified.
SQL Bootcamp
Udemy helps you learn SQL by offering this program – “The Complete SQL Bootcamp.” The course will teach you how to use SQL to create a database query and conduct data analysis.
You will learn how to perform GROUP by using statements and replicate query reports and real-world situations. You can write and read a complex query to a database through PostgreSQL. The skills learned in this course apply to other SQL databases, including MySQL, Amazon Redshift, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, etc.
This course includes tests and challenges throughout the duration that helps you improve your learnings. The syllabus covers SQL syntax basics, running sophisticated queries using string and comparison operators. They make you understand how to use Python and advance your skills in SQL.
You will also learn common commands like SQL JOIN, create databases and tables using constraints over data entries. You would be taught to set up databases and restore them since you start the course without watching someone else coding for you.
Towards the end of this course, you will feel comfortable including SQL and PostgreSQL on your resume to land better opportunities. No previous technical skills or experience is needed to learn this course. It supports 8 languages, including English, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Datacamp
Learn the fundamentals of query tables using relational databases like SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL by taking up a course from Datacamp. This is a 4-hour long course and includes 1 video and 41 exercises.
To help you become an efficient data scientist, analyst, or a related professional, Datacamp teaches you how to extract and organize data using SQL. The course familiarizes you with SQL syntax that many databases share, such as Oracle, MySQL, and more.
You will find everything that you must know to work effectively with present-day databases. The course syllabus covers a short introduction to relational databases, their structure, and how to communicate with them via database lingo.
You will learn to analyze data using common SQL commands and then select columns and summarize them from tables. Next, you will learn to filter rows in a table that satisfies specific criteria. You will understand to use common comparison operators, text match patterns, combine different criteria, and many more.
Learn how to utilize aggregate functions for data summary and get powerful insights. They will teach you SQL arithmetic, aliases, and how to use them to yield more readable results. You will understand grouping and sorting your results by practice, single, and multiple columns.
CodeAcademy
Master SQL with CodeAcademy by joining 1M students who have already taken up this course. They will help you learn how to interact with relational databases using SQL. You will learn how to manipulate data with SQL by creating, accessing, and updating all the data in a database.
Then comes the part where they teach you how to create a table, SQLite, and include a quiz to assess your knowledge. In the next part of the course, you will learn to perform complex queries through essential query functionalities and keywords.
It also includes a quiz on queries followed by a project on New York Restaurants. Learn powerful aggregate functions to perform complex operations easily and undertake a quiz. It includes 2 projects on “Trends in Startups” and “How to Hack Hacker News”.
Widen your knowledge and create queries that interact with multiple tables. This part also includes a quiz and a project on “Lyft Trip Data”. There are no prerequisites to learn the course, which takes around 8 hours to complete and includes a certificate after completion.
SQLBolt
SQLBolt offers a series of lessons along with exercises to help you learn SQL with ease. The lessons start with an introduction to SQL query and its different parts. Next, they will teach you how you can change a schema or table.
You will be able to create a new table from scratch with interactive lessons explained in the easiest of language. With each progressing lesson, you will get familiar with different concepts followed by interactive exercises at the end of each chapter.
You can carry on the learning at your own pace and experiment with ideas and exercises without any worries. In case you already have some knowledge of SQL, you can skip it and move ahead via links that you can find in the dashboard, but they advise you to go through them at once. At the end of this course, you would gain strong SQL basics and use them in your projects.
Oracle Certification
“The Complete Oracle SQL Certification Course” is another great source of learning SQL on Udemy. It will help you get job-ready and become a certified Oracle SQL developer.
You will learn how to program in SQL and solve multiple database problems. You will code with the instructor to implement and practice your learnings. They will make you understand the working of the Oracle database to get the fundamental idea about it.
The overall course content is designed in such a manner that will help you pass the Oracle 1Z0-071 Database SQL Examination.
You can pause the video and complete the given exercises before resuming it. The topics covered in this course are fundamentals of tables, different clauses, and operators like “where,” “select,” “AND,” “OR,” “NULL,” etc.
It also includes table queries, functions, joins, table creation, commands, objects, views, and much more. Anyone can take up this course, which will become a software developer, master SQL, and become an Oracle SQL developer.
SQL Essential
“The SQL Essentials Training and Certification” is an excellent option that Edureka offers. This is an online self-paced course made for self-directed training where each participant can start the course at their convenience.
The structured training also includes review exercises that reinforce learning. They teach you through videos, assignments, PPTs, projects, and additional activities to enhance the learning potential. You will interact with a live expert and clear your doubts in real-time accessed from anywhere.
Learn to write SQL codes, use SQL Server Management Studio; find how to sort, retrieve, group, filter, and calculate; and aggregate data from a database. Additionally, study to interrogate data out of a relational database and manipulate it.
After the course completion, you can define RDBMS, its 3 normalization forms, use DDL statements and create/manage tables. Perform data manipulation using DML, retrieve data through SQL Select statement, sort and restrict data, display data from different tables, and use built-in functions.
This course is suitable for both beginners and experienced people in databases. The course requires no prior skills or knowledge in databases, but it is an added benefit if you have some DBMS knowledge. It includes two projects – building a relational database with multiple tables, exercises, and problems based on a schema.
Edureka provides lifetime access to this course once you pay for it, including videos, learning content in an LMS, and a discussion forum. Upon successful completion of the course and project, Edureka offers a certification.
MongoDB Certification
Edureka offers one more course – MongoDB Certification Training. It will help you learn the skills of NoSQL database, CRUD, MongoDB architecture, schema design, data modeling, Sharding and query, ingestion, and indexing with real-world case studies.
The course aims to introduce you to MongoDB experts’ roles in an organization, design schema with advanced queries, and troubleshoot performance problems.
You will learn the aggregation framework in MongoDB, recovery and backup strategies, and its availability and scalability using Sharding. Learn to set up a replicated cluster, manage ReplicaSets, Shards, query router configuration server, keys, and different MongoDB tools useful to develop apps and deploy them.
Besides, it teaches you how to integrate MongoDB with Hadoop, conduct data migration, integrate with Pentaho, Jaspersoft, Robomongo, and manage deployments through MongoDB cloud services. The course does not have any prerequisites.
But if you know programming languages like Java, basic database knowledge, and text editor skills like VI editor, it’s beneficial. This course is great for database admins, server engineers, data visualization and analytics engineers, application engineers, and developers for web, mobile, cloud, and social technologies.
The other features included in this course are real-life case studies, practical assignments for each class, lifetime content access with presentations, installation guides, class recordings, quizzes, and a “MongoDB Expert” certificate.
SQL Basics
“The SQL Basics” offered by Whizlabs is great for a beginner trying to comprehend the basic as well as advanced SQL concepts. It is also ideal for people who want to start their careers in data science, solution architecture, app development, and database management.
This course helps you gain extensive expertise in SQL and various approaches and methods to communicate with databases. You would write and read SQL commands, develop SQL recognizing skills, different usability, and functionality for data manipulation.
This course has 3 hours of videos and 7 lectures that cover important SQL topics. This course requires prior hands-on experience in programming languages, basic database knowledge, and skill to install MySQL database.
Get a certificate after completing the course, which is valid for a lifetime. The course fee is $6.86, including a 100% unconditional money-back guarantee. You can also go for the annual subscription plan with all the Whizlabs courses worth around $2500 at only $99, including premium support and hands-on labs for 1 year.
MongoDB Introduction
Coursera offers a course, “Introduction to MongoDB,” that you can enroll for free and join 40k students.
It helps you leverage the power of MongoDB in data analytics and master its basics, data model, working with their CRUD API, aggregation framework, and data imports into clusters. They will teach you these topics with the help of a demo app to encounter the simplicity and practicality of MongoDB.
Additionally, you will work with essential series and tools like Atlas, MongoDB compass, its database as a service, schema visualization, and other command-line utilities. The course features videos, readings, and quizzes for every week to provide a comprehensive view of the different aspects of MongoDB.
The intermediate-level course is 100% online and has a flexible deadline that can align with your schedule. It takes around 17 hours to complete the course and features subtitles in 12 languages that include English and major European and Asian languages. After the course completion, earn a certificate and share it wherever you want.
edX
Accelerate your career with a MicroBachelors program by edX – “Introduction to Databases.” Here, you will learn to apply SQL queries to read, create, delete, and update databases.
You will be able to implement the concepts of referential integrity constraint and entity integrity constraint that includes the foreign key’s definition. Learn to sketch data models like ER to define database structures, use SQL to create database schemas for relational and conceptual data models.
You can apply stored functions, triggers, and procedures through commercial RDBMS and define concurrency control with its effects on isolation levels. The course syllabus introduces you to database queries (both basic and advanced) and covers advanced database administration.
To earn the certificate and credit, you need to complete the course and pass with at least 70% of the grade. The program includes 3 high-quality courses with expert instruction, self-paced training and takes around 4 months to complete.
Amazon DynamoDB
Offered by AWS, Coursera brings another course for you – Amazon DynamoDB that helps you build applications driven by NoSQL databases.
This course is completely free, and 6k people have already joined it. It includes an introduction to the NoSQL database along with the challenges it can solve. Their expert instructors would take you to the depths of Amazon DynamoDB topics.
These topics include recovery, partition keys, global tables, SDKs, encryption and security, stateless applications, and industry best practices. The course entails video-based training that AWS expert trainers and demonstrators deliver.
It also features hands-on practical exercises you can run yourself over your AWS account. This way, you can build, manage, and deploy your DynamoDB-powered apps. This intermediate-level course is 100% online with flexible deadlines, 12 subtitle languages are available, and takes around 9 hours to complete.
W3resource
If you want to learn about databases, SQL, and NoSQL, refer to W3resource. This is an excellent guide covering a comprehensive view of the related terminologies like RDBMS, distributed systems, and more.
This properly-structured guide is crafted so that beginners can understand easily while experienced people can freshen-up their knowledge and learn a thing or two. It begins with the history of relational databases, ACID rules, and distributed systems’ pros and cons.
Next, it encompasses the history of NoSQL, its importance, examples, pros and cons, the difference between RDBMS and NoSQL, CAP theorem, NoSQL categories, types of databases, and more.
Conclusion
SQL and NoSQL are essential skills for data scientists, analysts, software developers, etc. Thus, if you want to start your career in these fields, learning SQL and NoSQL would be helpful, both in terms of knowledge and paycheck.
