May 29, 2015 at 10:02 am
Hey all,
I am trying to learn how to use SQL and I have downloaded MSSQL Server 2014 Express. I am a complete beginner with little experience.
I just downloaded and installed the Adventureworks DB to practice with. Can anyone please tell me where I can find some beginners tutorials to use with this database?
I am basically looking for a launchpad here and figure out what to do next.
Thank you
May 29, 2015 at 10:36 am
you could try reading these articles on this site
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/75773/
________________________________________________________________
you can lead a user to data....but you cannot make them think
and remember....every day is a school day
May 29, 2015 at 11:12 am
Fantastic videos on YouTube, just search "learn sql".
May 30, 2015 at 12:35 am
fliteskates (5/29/2015)
Hey all,I am trying to learn how to use SQL and I have downloaded MSSQL Server 2014 Express. I am a complete beginner with little experience.
I just downloaded and installed the Adventureworks DB to practice with. Can anyone please tell me where I can find some beginners tutorials to use with this database?
I am basically looking for a launchpad here and figure out what to do next.
Thank you
What direction are you looking to go - The DBA route? SQL Developer? Both? Data warehousing, BI?
-- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001
May 30, 2015 at 6:34 am
My default answer for that question, for the last few years, has been to start by picking up a copy on "Microsoft SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Fundamentals" by Itzik Ben-Gan.
May 30, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Jason A. Long (5/30/2015)
My default answer for that question, for the last few years, has been to start by picking up a copy on "Microsoft SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Fundamentals" by Itzik Ben-Gan.
+ 1000 I learned a lot of syntax from videos, but the eureka moments and deeper fundamentals came from this book. Highly recommend it. Also keep reading the posts on here they helped a lot!
***SQL born on date Spring 2013:-)
May 30, 2015 at 5:46 pm
Hey all,
Thx for the advice. I think I am going the DBA route.
I have to see if this is something I truly enjoy or not first, however.
I just read a free tutorial on databases and Sql server on quack it.com. Very easy to understand and I now have a firm grasp of what databases actually are, how tables, rows and columns work, and a little T-Sql. I can now create my own DB and tables.
I guess that's the easy stuff, but it feels good to understand it.
I've messed around with SQL Server and SSMS, so I'm learning a little here and there.
June 1, 2015 at 10:47 am
fliteskates (5/29/2015)
Hey all,I am trying to learn how to use SQL and I have downloaded MSSQL Server 2014 Express. I am a complete beginner with little experience.
I just downloaded and installed the Adventureworks DB to practice with. Can anyone please tell me where I can find some beginners tutorials to use with this database?
I am basically looking for a launchpad here and figure out what to do next.
Thank you
Tell is a little more about your previous professional or educational background, and also your intended IT occupation, so we know where to start.
Kevin Kline's "SQL in a Nutshell" book is good primer on how relational databases in general work and learning generic SQL.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 1, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Eric M Russell (6/1/2015)
fliteskates (5/29/2015)
Hey all,I am trying to learn how to use SQL and I have downloaded MSSQL Server 2014 Express. I am a complete beginner with little experience.
I just downloaded and installed the Adventureworks DB to practice with. Can anyone please tell me where I can find some beginners tutorials to use with this database?
I am basically looking for a launchpad here and figure out what to do next.
Thank you
Tell is a little more about your previous professional or educational background, and also your intended IT occupation, so we know where to start.
Kevin Kline's "SQL in a Nutshell" book is good primer on how relational databases in general work and learning generic SQL.
I graduated with a business degree, then went into digital marketing where I was at for a decade and change. I recently got an IT job monitoring servers.
The DBAs who work with me pointed me to this site and told me to download and learn Ms SQL Server. So I've been working with simple DB creation, and will soon be messing around with queries, maintenance plans, etc. Then work my way up to figuring out how mirroring and log shipping work and well beyond, hopefully.
Lots to learn, but I'm trying not to let it intimidate me.
June 2, 2015 at 5:40 am
Try and stay away from the wizards and gui as much as you can while you are learning. Learn the TSQL commands and syntax for performing backup, restores, create table, create index, create database, etc... You don't have to commit all of the syntax to memory, as it can easily looked on in the "books online", but you definitely need to feel comfortable and adept at using the commands.
This will provide you a firmer foundation and understanding as to how sql server (database engine) works. While the gui can be helpful and sometimes quicker, it doesn't really teach you what you should be learning if you are pursuing the DBA path.
Good luck,
Steve
June 2, 2015 at 8:08 am
Steve-3_5_7_9 (6/2/2015)
Try and stay away from the wizards and gui as much as you can while you are learning. Learn the TSQL commands and syntax for performing backup, restores, create table, create index, create database, etc... You don't have to commit all of the syntax to memory, as it can easily looked on in the "books online", but you definitely need to feel comfortable and adept at using the commands.This will provide you a firmer foundation and understanding as to how sql server (database engine) works. While the gui can be helpful and sometimes quicker, it doesn't really teach you what you should be learning if you are pursuing the DBA path.
Good luck,
Steve
Let me second what Steve said. Skip the wizards and maintenance plans. The GUI is there, but learn SQL if you want to learn how things really work.
June 2, 2015 at 8:09 am
Steve-3_5_7_9 (6/2/2015)
Try and stay away from the wizards and gui as much as you can while you are learning. Learn the TSQL commands and syntax for performing backup, restores, create table, create index, create database, etc... You don't have to commit all of the syntax to memory, as it can easily looked on in the "books online", but you definitely need to feel comfortable and adept at using the commands.This will provide you a firmer foundation and understanding as to how sql server (database engine) works. While the gui can be helpful and sometimes quicker, it doesn't really teach you what you should be learning if you are pursuing the DBA path.
Good luck,
Steve
Are these commands difficult to learn?
Thx Steve
June 2, 2015 at 8:19 am
The commands are all in the SQL Server Books Online, at MSDN.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214(v=sql.110).aspx
Whether, or not, they're difficult to learn is really up to you, but a "functional" DBA would really need to learn them. There's no way around learning them if you really want to be a DBA, otherwise go the SQL Developer route and just learn ANSI SQL.
Steve
June 2, 2015 at 10:06 am
Steve-3_5_7_9 (6/2/2015)
Try and stay away from the wizards and gui as much as you can while you are learning. Learn the TSQL commands and syntax for performing backup, restores, create table, create index, create database, etc... You don't have to commit all of the syntax to memory, as it can easily looked on in the "books online", but you definitely need to feel comfortable and adept at using the commands.This will provide you a firmer foundation and understanding as to how sql server (database engine) works. While the gui can be helpful and sometimes quicker, it doesn't really teach you what you should be learning if you are pursuing the DBA path.
Good luck,
Steve
I'm going to politely disagree and suggest that the OP use the GUIs when starting out, though I'm in full agreement with nearly everything you say here, Steve.
Learning a new way of thinking (set-based, referential integrity, keys, indexes, architecture) plus all the SQL rubric (DDL, DML, security, querying) can add up to a lot very quickly and become overwhelming. Everyone has a different way of learning, I guess. For myself, I like to jump in quickly and actually do something when I'm starting something new. If I take to it, then I'm more motivated to dig through doing things the "right" way and I'll understand how the written commands operate and I'll see the ultimate goal as I'm thrashing through a myriad syntax errors.
I absolutely would agree that, if you want to pursue being a DBA, then learning the commands and syntax are the right way to go. But if you're still at the point of trying to learn if this is a career you're interested in, or wondering how and why you create databases, I'd think about playing around with the GUIs to start.
Rich
June 2, 2015 at 11:30 am
fliteskates (6/1/2015)
Eric M Russell (6/1/2015)
fliteskates (5/29/2015)
Hey all,I am trying to learn how to use SQL and I have downloaded MSSQL Server 2014 Express. I am a complete beginner with little experience.
I just downloaded and installed the Adventureworks DB to practice with. Can anyone please tell me where I can find some beginners tutorials to use with this database?
I am basically looking for a launchpad here and figure out what to do next.
Thank you
Tell is a little more about your previous professional or educational background, and also your intended IT occupation, so we know where to start.
Kevin Kline's "SQL in a Nutshell" book is good primer on how relational databases in general work and learning generic SQL.
I graduated with a business degree, then went into digital marketing where I was at for a decade and change. I recently got an IT job monitoring servers.
The DBAs who work with me pointed me to this site and told me to download and learn Ms SQL Server. So I've been working with simple DB creation, and will soon be messing around with queries, maintenance plans, etc. Then work my way up to figuring out how mirroring and log shipping work and well beyond, hopefully.
Lots to learn, but I'm trying not to let it intimidate me.
On the T-SQL side I will pile on and say read Itzik Ben-Gan; whatever direction you go it is best to get a good grip on T-SQL. SQLServerCentral is also a goldmine. Check out the blogs and stairways; they are invaluable. On the T-SQL side of things you can't go wrong reading any article here by Jeff Moden, Dwain Camps, Paul White, Lynn Pettis or Chris Morris. Gail Shaw covers great topics about database administration such as dealing with indexes and log files as does Grant Fritchey. The best free learning out there.
The best way to learn SQL Server is to do SQL Server. You are on the right track creating databases, doing backups, creating maintenance plans, etc.
Our backgrounds are similar. My degree is in Business and, before being a DBA, I was working on servers. That experience will help you a great deal. E.g. learning VMs, understanding RAID, IP, SAN, etc...
Though the GUI is not evil, I learned more about SQL by learning how to accomplish the task at hand using T-SQL. Basically everything you do in SQL can be scripted. Instead of creating a table, view, stored procedure using the GUI, learn how to do it by hand. I use the GUI when I got stuck - but always click the little script button that shows me how to script that specific task. That's my $0.02.
-- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001
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