Introduction to Relational Databases in SQL

Overview

Learn how to create one of the most efficient ways of storing data - relational databases!

You’ve already used SQL to query data from databases. But did you know that there's a lot more you can do with databases? You can model different phenomena in your data, as well as the relationships between them. This gives your data structure and consistency, which results in better data quality. In this course, you'll experience this firsthand by working with a real-life dataset that was used to investigate questionable university affiliations. Column by column, table by table, you'll get to unlock and admire the full potential of databases. You'll learn how to create tables and specify their relationships, as well as how to enforce data integrity. You'll also discover other unique features of database systems, such as constraints.

Syllabus

Your first database

In this chapter, you'll create your very first database with a set of simple SQL commands. Next, you'll migrate data from existing flat tables into that database. You'll also learn how meta-information about a database can be queried.

Enforce data consistency with attribute constraints

After building a simple database, it's now time to make use of the features. You'll specify data types in columns, enforce column uniqueness, and disallow NULL values in this chapter.

Uniquely identify records with key constraints

Now let’s get into the best practices of database engineering. It's time to add primary and foreign keys to the tables. These are two of the most important concepts in databases, and are the building blocks you’ll use to establish relationships between tables.

Glue together tables with foreign keys

In the final chapter, you'll leverage foreign keys to connect tables and establish relationships that will greatly benefit your data quality. And you'll run ad hoc analyses on your new database.