SQL Courses for Software Testers

In this article, you will learn why software testers need SQL and which courses are ideal for them to learn it.

Do software testers need SQL? Oh yes, they do! They don’t necessarily use it all the time or take advantage of all its possible features. But a tool for accessing data in a database is essential for a software tester.

And SQL is exactly that: a programming language designed specifically for handling data in relational databases. Its purpose – querying data – is hidden in its name: Structured Query Language.

Why Software Testers Use SQL

What does SQL do? You can use SQL to write a simple query that gets the data exactly as it is recorded in the database. But you can also use SQL to aggregate and group data, filter it, perform various mathematical operations on it, connect data from numerous tables, label it, and more. And this is the read-only side of SQL. It can also be used to change and delete data in a database and perform other data administration tasks.

As a software tester, you’ll mostly be interested in getting data from databases. At times, you’ll also be changing data in a database. So, let’s have a look at the situations where you could use SQL.

When Do Software Testers Use SQL?

You’ll find SQL useful when getting data, such as a list of items, out of a database. From there, you can use the data to verify that the app you’re testing displays all the necessary items.

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Another situation you’d need SQL is when you want to filter items in a database. You can apply the filtering criteria in an SQL query and check if the items are displayed in the app correctly. Another example is getting the user accounts or items for testing, i.e. that satisfy a certain criteria. For example, you might be looking for users who are on a specific payment plan or whose subscription has expired.

There are also situations when you’d want to modify data.

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No, not Data; the data in a database. Suppose you want to test corner cases in a test environment. Maybe you want to add a user with a specific name or change the user’s payment plan. Adding new records or changing existing ones is something SQL deals with very elegantly.

Finally, a software tester should be able to understand table definitions in a database. In other words, you must know how the database tables are related. And for each table you use, you should understand its structure in terms of the number of columns and their names, data types, primary and foreign keys, and other constraints.

You can learn all of that in LearnSQL.com’s courses.

What Do LearnSQL.com Courses Look Like?

All the courses we offer are interactive. This means that in each exercise, you get a little bit of reading and code explanation. Then you write your own code that solves a similar problem to what you just read.

our platform runs your code on

When learning a new skill, your motivation can get shaky sometimes. Our courses help by making it easy for you to start any course: No downloading, no installing, no setup – you only need an Internet connection and a web browser to start learning SQL.

And for any beginner, knowing if learning SQL is difficult and how to learn SQL quickly is important.

Which LearnSQL.com Courses Are Best for Testers?

As you’re just beginning with SQL, the smartest thing would be to start with the basics. Once you build firm foundations, you can learn the more advanced SQL features.

To avoid missing anything important, I advise planning your learning path around these three SQL courses.

SQL Basics

The SQL Basics course’s main task is to teach you how to get data from a database. It demonstrates fundamental SQL constructions. You will learn how to fetch data from a database (the SELECT statement), combine data from two or more tables (using various JOIN statements), and perform mathematical operations using aggregate functions like COUNT(), SUM(), MIN(), and  MAX(). After completing this course, you’ll also know how to group data and filter it using different operators.

This course has been designed with beginners in mind, but it can still benefit you if you’ve some SQL experience – it will let you refresh and consolidate your knowledge.

How to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Data in SQL

Once you learn how to get data from a database, it’s time you know how to modify it. The How to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Data in SQL course teaches you how to use the basic and advanced features of three important SQL commands: INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE. They are used for adding, modifying, and deleting data in a database. During the course, you’ll also learn how these commands work with NULL values and JOINs.

You'll find this knowledge extremely helpful whenever you need to modify the data in a test database – e.g. when you want to test some corner cases that are difficult to create with a normal application click-through. You can simply use SQL and create some data directly in a database.

The Basics of Creating Tables in SQL

As a tester, you might be required not only to change existing data and tables but also to create entirely new tables and data. Admittedly, this doesn’t happen very often – but it can. However, a much more required skill is reading a table definition and understanding what it says.

The knowledge you’ll need for that is covered in The Basics of Creating Tables in SQL. Yes, it teaches you the CREATE TABLE command in SQL, which (obviously) allows you to create tables. But you will learn other important things, such as constraints like PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, and NOT NULL. Additionally, the course will teach you how to remove a table using DROP TABLE and how to use ALTER TABLE to rename tables and columns.

Bonus Course: SQL Practice

I already mentioned that all our courses require coding, coding, and more coding. If you decide to, you can take this to a whole new level. With a bonus course, you can make your mind quick and your fingers swift!

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Do that by taking the SQL Practice track. The name says it all – it’s a learning track dedicated to practicing SQL coding. Once you complete the three courses above, this one will be a perfect fit for you. It contains six interactive SQL practice courses and more than 600 exercises. You can review and consolidate what you’ve learned in the previous courses here. And the skills you practice here can be used in PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, and SQLite databases. These are all SQL dialects; you can learn all about SQL dialect here.

Ready to Test How Far You Can Go with SQL?

Using SQL might not be a day-to-day requirement for you as a software tester. But it for sure can make plenty of tasks completed easier and quicker. Whenever you’re in need, SQL is a friend indeed.

Want to check if the app you’re testing displays all the items from the list or if it displays it correctly? SQL. Need to filter, add, or modify data in a database? SQL again.  Want to create tables and understand how they are connected? No need to repeat it, but SQL.

Ideally, you’ll start your learning path with the SQL Basics course, then go on to How to INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Data in SQL and  The Basics of Creating Tables in SQL courses.

For what you learn there to hit home fully, it would be best to practice SQL coding extensively in our SQL Practice course.