Articles Cookbook
7 Dec 2017
Ignacio L. Bisso

The SQL Coalesce Function: Handling Null Values

You may already know how to return null values in SQL. Now, we’re going to learn how to do the opposite. Though the SQL COALESCE function may seem complex, it’s actually very straightforward and useful. Let’s look at several examples of how the SQL COALESCE function can be used to work with NULL values in SQL. The Need for Coalesce in SQL Before we dive into the SQL COALESCE function in detail, you should understand how NULL values behave in expressions.
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29 Nov 2017
Kacper Skawina

Digging Into Data: Explore and Analyze Survey Results With SQL

Excel is a powerful beast that lets you analyze complex data. Yet, operating on big chunks of data can sometimes be a daunting task. Let's take a look at how SQL can help. Today, we'll tackle a common problem with importing data to an SQL database, using a real-life example. Suppose your company conducted a survey on the most popular programming trends and preferences, striving to meet the expectations of its users.
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27 Nov 2017
Ignacio L. Bisso

How Often Employees Are Running Late for Work: SQL Datetime and Interval SQL Arithmetic

Computing Tardiness: Date, Time, and Interval SQL Arithmetic In this article, we’re going to discuss some interesting operations we can perform with date-related data types in SQL. The SQL standard, which most relational databases comply with these days, specifies the date-related data types that must be present in relational databases. The most important of such data types are date, time, timestamp, and interval. Here’s a brief rundown of the differences between these data types:
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23 Nov 2017
Dorota Wdzięczna

SQL Hacks To Control Family Budget On Black Friday Weekend

If you’re in the US, chances are you’ve been eagerly awaiting the approach of Black Friday just as much as Thanksgiving. Though the shopping frenzy takes hold of nearly everyone, some people have to stick to their budgets and shop prudently. In this article, we’ll take a look at how generating an SQL report can help you track how much your family spent shopping on Black Friday. Storing Black Friday Purchases in a Database Before we can create an SQL report, we first need some data we can use.
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13 Nov 2017
Aldo Zelen

Introduction to Reporting with SQL — the Ultimate Tutorial for Business Professionals

Working with the financial aspects of large and small enterprises can be a daunting task for a business professional. In this article, we'll look at several ways of constructing the perfect SQL report. You've probably already heard about SQL from your colleagues or in other areas of your career. If you're here, you've likely concluded that learning SQL will make your professional life easier – and you're right!
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9 Nov 2017
Alex Briggs

5 Great Benefits of Learning SQL

If you want your business to succeed in 2017, it’s absolutely critical that you understand your data; this is why you should get acquainted with SQL ASAP. But there are other reasons to learn it that may not be obvious. In this article, I’ll show you 5 huge benefits of learning SQL! Don’t fall for the common trap—analyzing data isn’t just a concern for those competing at national or corporate levels.
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25 Oct 2017
Dorota Wdzięczna

Most Popular SQL Interview Questions for Business Analysts

SQL is an extremely desirable skill for anyone in today’s market—not just those in the IT sector. It’s becoming increasingly common for employers to require at least a basic knowledge of SQL in professions related to finance, statistics, banking, and business analytics. In this article, we will focus on the SQL interview questions for business analyst (BA) positions that appear at job interviews most often.. The best way to learn SQL is through practice.
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21 Oct 2017
Dorota Wdzięczna

Why Is SQL Worth Learning?

Nowadays, data is gathered from a variety of sources, and information is of great value to organizations. However, with an increasing amount of data comes the need for databases that can store information for retrieval and analysis by trained specialists. That’s where Structured Query Language comes in. Is SQL worth learning? In this article, I’ll explain why it definitely is. Relational databases, which logically group information into chunks, are basically used to store and organize large amounts of data.
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18 Oct 2017
Ignacio L. Bisso

Learn SQL Views in 30 Minutes

Views aren't complicated – if you've got half an hour, we'll get you started writing SQL queries using views! Let's start by answering the question "What is a view in SQL?'. A view is a database object (as is a table, an index, or a stored procedure). Like a table, you can query a view and extract the information in it. It can be used in the FROM clause of a SELECT, and you can reference view columns in clauses like SELECT, WHERE and GROUP BY among other clauses as well.
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16 Oct 2017
Aldo Zelen

How to Organize SQL Queries with CTEs

Common table expressions (CTEs) allow you to structure and organize SQL queries. Knowing how to organize SQL queries is a necessity when you begin to move deeper into SQL, so if you want to become an SQL master, you need to know CTEs. The SQL CTE has been part of standard SQL for some time now. CTEs – which are also called WITH statements – are available in all major RDBMS.
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